It is the position of the New York State Comptroller's Office that meals of public officers and employees may not be reimbursed or paid by the municipal entity unless the officer or employee is traveling outside his/her regular work area on official business for an extended period of time. The School District requires overnight travel to be eligible for such meal expenses. This regulation also applies to any meals provided at staff meetings except under the following circumstances:

1)     Meals may be considered a proper municipal expense where the School District is faced with business of an immediate nature between two or more people, and the meetings are required to be held at meal times due to staff schedules.

2)    In order for meal expenses for a meeting between staff members to be eligible for reimbursement or payment by the organization, the following conditions need to be met:

a.       The topic(s) of the meeting must be of an immediate nature, or there must be a pressing need to complete the business at hand;

b.      Scheduling prevents the meeting from being held at a different time;

c.       The meal must be provided during the meeting. Itcannot be delivered or served at the beginning or end of the scheduled meeting. For example: where a luncheon meeting is scheduled from 10 am to 2 pm because it is the only time a meeting can be held before an important deadline, the meal may be eligible for reimbursement or payment if it was delivered at 12 noon.

3)     When claiming such expenses for reimbursement or requesting that payment be made, you must justify on the claim form the need for such expense as outlined above.

4)     Before meal expenses for meetings with staff members can be reimbursed or paid, the following information must be provided to the Business Office:

a.       What was the purpose of the meeting?

b.      When was the meeting held?

c.       What time was the meeting held?

d.      What was the reason that the meal had to be served during the meeting?

These guidelines apply to all employees of the School District and are effective immediately.