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November 24, 1997
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GSBCA 14058-RELO
In the Matter of ANDREW
PARR
Andrew Parr, Norfolk, VA, Claimant.
C. J.
Jackson,
Department of the
Navy, Washington, DC,
appearing for Department
of the Navy.
WILLIAMS, Board Judge.
At issue
in this
case is
claimant's request
for
reimbursement of $844.15
associated with his permanent change of
station (PCS)
move from
Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii, to
Norfolk,
Virginia.
Specifically, claimant
seeks $773.65 for
rental car expenses,
$50 for
baggage handling,
and $20.50
for official
telephone calls.
Because under
the governing
regulations
claimant is
not
entitled to
be reimbursed
for local
transportation expenses, and because baggage handling is
included in
the miscellaneous
portion of
claimant s per
diem, those
expenditures cannot
be recovered.
However, the
agency may
reimburse claimant
for his telephone
calls if he
demonstrates
that they were made for
official business purposes.
Background
Claimant, Andrew Parr, employee of
the Department of the Navy, was
transferred from Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, to Norfolk, Virginia, with
a reporting date of
October 1, 1992.
On August 10, 1992,
the Navy issued claimant
travel orders
authorizing reimbursement
of PCS expenses including
"rental car
(1) until
POV [privately owned
vehicle] arrives
in Norfolk,
Virginia."
The travel
orders also
authorized shipment
of claimant's
POV and temporary quarters
subsistence expenses (TQSE)
for sixty days.
Claimant rented a car on September 25, 1992, and
returned it
one day later in Honolulu.
In addition, claimant
rented a car in
Norfolk while awaiting
arrival of
his POV from
September 27,
1992, until October 21,
1992. Claimant
resided in the Marriott
Hotel in
Norfolk during his
TQSE period and
incurred parking
charges of $8.50 per
day. Claimant seeks a total
of $773.65 for
rental car expenses
including gasoline and
parking.
Claimant also seeks
$50 in baggage handling
expenses due to the fact that
he and his wife were
traveling with two small children
and were
unable to handle their six
pieces of luggage.
Finally, claimant
seeks $20.50 for official telephone calls made from hotels
to his
employer in Washington, D.C., or
in the course of
establishing a new
office in Norfolk.
Specifically, in his
travel voucher,
claimant requests
$6.25 for official
calls on September 26 and
$14.25 for official
calls on October 1.
Claimant did not submit
hotel bills
or other telephone
bills indicating
the numbers
called or the time of day when the calls were placed.
Although the agency
had approved the
rental car in
his travel
authorization, the
agency denied
reimbursement when
claimant submitted
his travel
voucher, concluding
that the
authorization for the
rental car in his
original orders had been
incorrect.
The agency
reasoned that an
employee cannot
be
reimbursed for the cost of
local transportation while
in a TQSE
status, because no legal entitlement existed,
citing Joint Travel
Regulation (JTR)
C13007, subparagraph
1a, and Appendix D.
The agency
denied reimbursement of
baggage handling fees because they
are covered in the
employee's per diem under meals and
incidental
expenses (M&IE).
The agency
denied
reimbursement for
the telephone
calls because they
were not authorized
on claimant s travel
orders.
Discussion
Rental Car
Reimbursement
of relocation
expenses of
transferred
employees is
authorized by 5
U.S.C.
5724a (1988).
This provision
permits the payment
of subsistence
expenses of the
employee and
his or
her immediate
family while
occupying
temporary quarters.
However, the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR)
in effect at the time
of claimant's relocation, which
implements
this statutory provision, specifically states
that "[e]xpenses of
local transportation incurred for any
purpose during occupancy of
temporary quarters
shall not be
allowed." 41
CFR 302-5.4(a)
(1990).[foot #] 1
The
applicable provision
of the
----------- FOOTNOTE BEGINS ---------
[foot #] 1
This regulation
was most recently
amended
effective March 22, 1997,
and revised FTR 302-5.18
provides, in
pertinent part:
(continued...)
----------- FOOTNOTE ENDS
-----------
Department of Defense's
JTR, which covers the
agency's civilian
personnel and
applies to claimant,
reiterates the
prohibition
against reimbursing
local
transportation expenses
while an
employee is
receiving a TQSE allowance.
JTR C13007-1a.
Both
this Board
and the
Comptroller General
have
consistently applied the
regulation prohibiting
reimbursement of
rental car expenses during
the TQSE
period. Brian
P. Gariffa,
GSBCA 13798-RELO, 97-2
BCA
29,033 ("Once
the employee has
reported for duty at
the new official
station and is receiving
[TQSE], local
transportation may
not be
authorized for
any
purpose."); Thomas S. Ward, GSBCA 13825-RELO, 97-1 BCA
28,955; John
G. Shirley, B-234861
(July 11, 1989)
(reimbursement for
rental car
disallowed when
employee transferred
from South
Carolina to Hawaii
and rented car while awaiting
the arrival of
his POV, even
though his relocation authorization
permitted use
of a rental vehicle).
Applying the regulations and the
rationale of
these decisions, we
conclude that the agency
properly denied
reimbursement of the rental car
expenses.
Baggage Handling Fees
Claimant also seeks
reimbursement of baggage
handling fees, but
the agency
correctly determined
that such
expenses are
included in the
meals and incidental expenses
claimant received
as part of his per
diem allowance during the
TQSE period.
JTR, App.
D.[foot #] 2
In addition,
JTR C4705.5,
Red Cap
and Sky
Cap Charges,
expressly provides
that, except
when
authorized for an
employee with a disability,
"Red cap and sky
cap charges
for handling
personal baggage at
transportation
terminals are
expenses of
travel payable
out of
per diem
allowances and are not items
for separate reimbursement."
Telephone Calls
Finally, the agency determined that claimant is not
entitled to
reimbursement for charges
for telephone
calls because they
were not authorized
on his travel
orders. However,
the agency did
not cite a statutory
or regulatory provision
supporting its denial
on this
basis, and we do not
believe that the absence of
----------- FOOTNOTE BEGINS ---------
[foot #] 1 (...continued)
May I be reimbursed
for local transportation expenses
incurred while I am
occupying temporary quarters?
Generally not.
Local transportation expenses
are not
TQSE, and
there is
no authority
to pay
them as
such. . . .
[foot #] 2
JTR, Appendix
D, Glossary
of Terms,
in defining
"per diem allowance"
specifies that
fees and tips to
porters, baggage
carriers, and bellhops
are incidental expenses
covered by the per diem
allowance.
----------- FOOTNOTE ENDS
-----------
an express
authorization in
claimant's
travel authorization
mandates an outright prohibition
against reimbursing
an employee for
official telephone
calls during
the TQSE
period. The
relevant statute,
31 U.S.C. 1348(b),
provides:
Appropriations of
an agency
are available
to pay
charges for
a long-distance
call if
required for
official business
and the voucher to pay for
the call
is sworn to by the
head of the agency.
Appropriations
of an executive
agency are available only
if the head
of the agency also certifies that
the call is necessary
in the interest of the
Government.
Further, the
applicable regulations would
permit reimbursement of
miscellaneous expenses necessary
for official
business, and the
decisions of
this Board
and the
Comptroller General
allow
reimbursement so long as a
claimant satisfactorily
demonstrates
that the calls were official.
FTR 301-9
permits
recovery of
miscellaneous
expenses
incurred by
a traveler
conducting
official
business. FTR
301-9.1(e) provides:
"Other expenses.
Miscellaneous
expenditures not enumerated
in this
section, when necessarily
incurred by the
traveler in
connection with the
transaction of
official business,
shall be allowed
when approved."
Although this
FTR provision
does not enumerate
telephone expenses,
we conclude
that this type
of expenditure may
be approved by the
agency if claimant
demonstrates that
his calls
were made to
conduct official business.
Further, the
pertinent JTR
in effect
in October
1992 provides:
1. OFFICIAL
LOCAL CALLS. Charges
for local telephone
calls on official
business will
be allowed.
The
reimbursement
voucher will
show the number
of such
calls, rate for
each call, total amount
expended each
day, and
bear the statement
that the calls
were on
official business.
2. OFFICIAL
LONG-DISTANCE
CALLS.
Charges for
official long-distance
telephone calls will be
allowed
provided they
are certified
as necessary
in the
interest of
the Government by an approving officer who
has been
authorized in
writing by the
head of the
Department of Defense component concerned to so certify
(31 U.S. Code
1348(b)). The
voucher should show
the
following for each long-distance call made, except
that
the points in
item 1 may be
omitted and
stated in
confidence to the
administrative
official if
of a
classified nature:
1. points
between which
conversation was
held,
2. date the
call was made,
3. amount paid
for each call,
4.
statement that the call was on
official
business.
JTR C4707.
In Eduardo Soto,
GSBCA 13647-RELO, 97-1 BCA
28,948, this
Board concluded
that an
administrative law
judge could
be
reimbursed for two
telephone calls made
during a
househunting trip
in conjunction
with his
transfer, once
the judge
had
established that the calls
were made
to his chief judge
or the office manager
during work
hours.
Similarly, in
Harry D.
Bickford,
B-257317 (June 12,
1995), the
Comptroller General
allowed
reimbursement for
local calls while
an employee
was performing
temporary duty, after concluding
that the charges were
incurred due
to official
necessity. Accord
Diane G. Smith,
B-253338 (Nov. 23,
1993) (Long
distance
charges for
data
transmission could be
reimbursed under 31 U.S.C.
1348(b) once
the appropriate agency
official certified
that the calls
were required
for official business and
necessary in the
interest of the
Government.); Matter of
Reimbursement for Expenses
Incurred by
Government
Officials Using
Cellular Telephone
in Private
Automobiles,
B-229406 (Dec. 9, 1988)
(Agency head may
certify
cellular telephone calls from automobile for
reimbursement after
strictly scrutinizing such calls and
insuring they are made
only when
most economical
and practicable
for the
transaction of
government business.).
Decision
The agency properly
denied reimbursement of rental
car and
baggage handling expenses.
The agency may reimburse
claimant for
telephone calls
if claimant
proves in
accordance with
the governing
statute and regulations
that the claimed
calls were
made for official business.
__________________________
MARY ELLEN COSTER WILLIAMS
Board Judge |