The Compensation Board has approved for reimbursement the following expenses as additional allowances:

• Attendance at professional organizations' annual meeting
• Attendance at VALECO, LGOC, New Officer Training, New Deputy Treasurer, New Deputy Commissioner of the Revenue or New Deputy Clerk Training, Jail Management Training, Lawful Employment Training, and Expanded Certification Training for Treasurers and Directors of Finance
• Executive Management Training
• Guard Duty (Sheriffs)
• Officers' Liability Insurance
• Special Defense Counsel
• Compensation Board Sponsored or Approved Training
• Pre-employment Physicals (Deputy Sheriffs ONLY)

Additional allowance items are not part of constitutional officers' approved budgets, but may be added as a budget and expense item when a reimbursement request is submitted in compliance with the Compensation Board policy. Specific policies regarding reimbursement for each of the above additional allowance items are addressed under individual headings throughout this manual.

Additional allowances have been approved for attendance at the following professional meetings:

1. Local Government Official's Conference (LGOC)
2. Constitutional Officer State Association Annual Meeting (provided it is held within the Commonwealth)
3. Virginia Association of Local Elected Constitutional Officers (VALECO) Annual Meeting
4. Compensation Board Sponsored or Approved Training (e.g., New Officer Training, New Deputy Training, Jail Management Training, Lawful Employment Training)
5. Expanded Certification Training for Treasurers and Directors of Finance

The Board has fixed a rate of $180 per person for attendance at LGOC and your state association meeting for a maximum of two people (principal officer and one employee in a Compensation Board reimbursed position). The Board has fixed a rate of $200 for the principal elected officer only for attendance at VALECO.

Mileage for all meetings will be reimbursed at .27 per mile for one personal car (certification that a government owned vehicle was not available is necessary) and .19 for a locality owned vehicle. In addition, the Compensation Board will reimburse parking and tolls.

In order to receive reimbursement of this additional allowance your request must be filed within 60 days of the conclusion of the meeting or conference. This allowance may only be claimed after the scheduled meeting.

Request this allowance on the SNIP "Additional Allowances" screen. The electronic "sign off" on the reimbursement request certifies that you have met all the conditions of the Compensation Board's policy for meeting attendance.

The Compensation Board will delegate the authority to classify positions to constitutional officers meeting Compensation Board criteria for this delegation. Officers who are approved for this authority would be allowed classification and compensation authority within the restraints of the Board's Maximum Rank policy and the officer's current base budget.

Upon annual certification by the constitutional officer that the classification plan in effect in his/her office meets the minimum criteria for such plans as set out by the Compensation Board, the constitutional officer may reallocate positions based on a thorough review of job descriptions and class specifications. The constitutional officer may transfer base budget funds or use savings in turnover to provide for the salary increase.

The Compensation Board will not reimburse a locality or jail authority for salary, benefits or accrued annual leave resulting from personnel actions with an effective date more than sixty (60) days prior to a transmission of a "change of status" via the Compensation Board's automated reimbursement system.

Reimbursements denied for failure to meet the above requirements will be effective dated the first day of the month in which notification of the change of status is received by the Board.

The Compensation Board has authorized an additional allowance for constitutional officers admitted to the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, or the Virginia Executive Institute sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University.

Each Constitutional Officer Association may nominate two officers for attendance at either the Senior Executive Institute (SEI), or up to four officers to attend the Leading, Educating and Developing Program (LEAD) or the Virginia Executive Institute (VEI). Also, the Regional Jail Association may nominate one superintendent to attend SEI, or two Superintendents to attend LEAD or VEI. Admission to any of these programs is the responsibility of the individual nominated. The Compensation Board will reimburse its share of the cost of the tuition only upon notification by the association of the officer's nomination and payment of the tuition by the local government. Travel, lodging, meals and incidentals not covered under the tuition cost are the responsibility of the Association, local government or the individual attendee. Admission to these sessions is limited and they fill up quickly. For a schedule of upcoming sessions, go to the Executive Management Meeting Calendar.

In lieu of sending two individuals to SEI, each association has the flexibility to nominate up to four individuals (2 for Regional Jail Association) to attend either LEAD or VEI.

• Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service -- www.virginia.edu/~cpserv/

The Compensation Board does not budget for overtime pay. Each constitutional officer is responsible for his/her compliance with all phases of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) e.g., compensating employees for working more than 40 hours in a 7 day period (or for public safety officers more than 160 hours within a 28 day period).

As a constitutional officer you must either have overtime paid by your local government or you must implement an overtime leave policy consistent with the FLSA. Under such a plan an employee earns time off in exchange for working overtime. You are responsible for maintaining accurate records of hours worked by each non-exempt (hourly) employee for FLSA purposes.

Should you have questions regarding the application of the FLSA to particular situations in your office, please call the U. S. Department of Labor. You may also wish to consult with your county or city attorney to discuss overtime policy in your locality.

U.S. Department of Labor
Wage and Hour Division
(804) 771-2995

• U.S. Department of Labor -- www.dol.gov/dol/esa/

The fiscal stress factor is not applied to equipment purchased with funds from the Clerks Technology Trust Fund.

• FY01 Fiscal Stress Factors

OASDI rates remain unchanged at 7.65% of taxable salary. As a reminder, OASDI is calculated on the first $68,400 of earnings in a calendar year at the 7.65% rate. Beyond that dollar amount the rate falls to 1.45%. The Compensation Board will change the deduction on the SNIP system as those employees or officer's salaries reach the maximum salary. Generally individual salaries reach that point in the fourth quarter of the calendar year or just before.

Fringe Benefits are reimbursable based upon total Compensation Board paid salaries. Clerks offices receive one-third reimbursement for benefits.

Code 2.1-526.8:1
The Division of Risk Management provides two types of coverage for officers and their employees. Liability insurance provides protection against claims arising against you or your employees for acts or omissions while acting in an official capacity.

The Compensation Board pays the full premium for this coverage for all officers with the exception of Treasurers and Commissioners of the Revenue. These officers pay one half of the premium, and that payment will be noted as a negative authorized entry to the Additional Allowances section on your July reimbursement request.

Blanket Bond coverage is also provided through Risk Management for all officers and employees. The Compensation Board pays the premium in full for this coverage for all officers.

Note: The Division of Risk Management shall not be liable for any claims in which the covered party fails to comply with the conditions of the plan established for Constitutional Officers. If you do not follow the procedures as set forth by the Division of Risk Management, you will not be covered under the plan.

• Division of Risk Management (DGS) -- www.dgs.state.va.us/drm

The defense of civil actions against a Treasurer or Commissioner of the Revenue are reimbursed at 50% of the total costs incurred.

The defense of civil actions against a Commonwealth's Attorney are reimbursed at 100% of the total costs incurred.

Expenses incurred in the defense of the principal officer and deputies or assistants of those officers from charges arising out of the performance of their official duties, are reimbursable.

A copy of the court order appointing the attorney, the reason for needing special counsel and an itemized list of expenses including miles traveled and hours worked must be filed with the Compensation Board. Reimbursement must be requested no later than the month following the payment by the locality.

Vacant positions in offices in which the number of Full Time Equivalent positions (FTE's) exceeds the position count, by one or more full positions, as set forth in the Compensation Board's staffing standards shall not be filled.

For the remainder of the fiscal year in which the vacancy occurs those vacancy savings may be transferred within the office according to current transfer procedures. Any vacant positions held open in accordance with this policy will be abolished and reallocated during the next budget cycle and will be available to be filled on or after July 1 of the following fiscal year in the office identified by the staffing standards as having the highest need.

Sheriffs' Offices Only
The position reallocation policy will be used ONLY for Law Enforcement and Court Service Deputies.

Provided that funds are budgeted, the Compensation Board will reimburse a constitutional officer's reasonable request for a personal computer (PC) that meets the following minimum specifications. 
Unless the Compensation Board specifically grants a waiver*, all personal computers for which reimbursement is requested, must meet the following minimum specifications.

• Intel Pentium 500 MHz with 512k level 2 cache (or compatible)
• 128Mb RAM, expandable to 384Mb
• PCI Bus
• Compatibility with IBM PC3270 protocol
• 10 gb HD storage with 13ms access time (PCI Controller)
• 1 1.44 Mb 3.5 floppy disk drive
• 17 Super VGA color monitor, 28 dot pitch, non-interlaced 1024 x 768; PCI video card with 8 Mb RAM and Windows acceleration
• Tape back up unit or other back up device (Zip Drive or Iomega Drive)
• 56.6 KBPS data/fax modem
• Windows 95 or greater
• Microsoft Intelli Point mouse
• 17x40 CD ROM 
• 200 W Power Supply
• Uninterruptible Power Supply or Surge Protector

*NOTE: The Compensation Board will consider waiver requests for modems, tape backups, etc. for personal computers to be used in a network environment.

On-line processing of salary and expense reimbursements, requires that you maintain complete and accurate records of expenses for local and state audit purposes. Your submissions to the Compensation Board through SNIP will, in most instances, not require hard copy documentation.

However, it is advisable that in using the on-line reimbursement, you also re-examine your method for maintaining receipts, vouchers and other necessary documentation of your expenditures. You should consult with your local auditor to determine a record retention schedule that meets your local government's policy and audit schedule. You may also wish to consult with your city or county attorney concerning any legal implications of your record retention policy.

The SNIP system has been designed to provide each locality with access to prior fiscal year records. On-line access will be available for the most recent completed fiscal year. At the end of FY98-99, the data from FY 96-97 will be removed from the active, on-line environment to make room for the data from FY 98-99. Those reimbursement requests which are removed from the on-line environment will be stored at the Department of Information Technology. Additionally, a record of each locality's reimbursement records for all offices, for the fiscal year will be provided to the locality for auditing purposes.

Code 15.2-1636.8
Local governments must pay Compensation Board funded staff at least the salary approved by the Compensation Board.

Staff Salaries:
A 2.25% salary increase has been funded  for all employees not subject to a performance evaluation plan, effective December 1, 1998. For employees subject to performance evaluation plans in effect as of February 1, 1998, performance based pay increases of 0%, 2.25%, or 4.55% will be funded effective December 1, 1998.  Each step on the current 21 step salary scale will be increased by 2.25%, effective December 1, 1998.