This is an automated transcription (OCR) of the captured
official document — minor recognition errors are possible; the source
document governs.
Snapshot 8073435c77d3 · verified 2026-06-05 ·
original document ·
archived snapshot ·
unofficial consolidation, the official version is held by the municipal clerk.
## 1: Title
- 1 (1) This Policy shall be known as the Expense Policy.
## 2: Authority
- 2 (1) This Policy is made pursuant to Sections 23 of the Municipal Government Act, SNS 1998, c 18, as amended, and pursuant to the Financial Reporting and Accounting Manual, a regulation pursuant to the Municipal Government Act, SNS 1998, c 18, as amended.
## 3: Definitions
- 3 (1) In this Policy, the following words shall have the following meanings:
- (a) "CAO" means the Chief Administrative Officer of the Municipality or an employee of the Municipality delegated any responsibilities or powers of the CAO pursuant to Section 29(b) of the Municipal Government Act, as amended;
- (b) "CFO" means the Chief Financial Officer of the Municipality or an employee of the Municipality delegated any responsibilities or powers of the CFO;
- (c) "Council" means the Council of the Municipality of the County of Inverness;
- (d) "Councillor" means a Councillor of the Municipality of the County of Inverness;
- (e) "Deputy Warden" means the serving deputy warden of the Municipality;
- (f) "District" means each of the six (6) electoral districts within the Municipality;
- (g) "Municipality" means the Municipality of the County of Inverness;
- (h) "Policy" means this Expense Policy, as amended from time to time;
- (i) "Reportable Individual" mean Councillors, Warden, Deputy Warden, and CAO;
- (i) "Staff" means employees of the Municipality, but does not include the CAO for
## EXPENSE POLICY
## MUNICIPALITY OF THE COUNTY OF INVERNESS
| Policy Number: | 2025-03-06 |
|-------------------------|--------------|
| Date of last Amendment: | 2025-03-06 |
the purposes of this Policy;
- (k) "Staff Advance" means an authorized amount that may be claimed by Staff in advance of the actual expenditure for a specific item, and for which an expense report claim must later be submitted; and
- (I) "Warden" means the serving warden of the Municipality.
## 4: Purpose of this Policy
- 4 (1) The Purpose of this Policy is to establish consistent, reasonable, and accountable standards to record and control the reimbursement by the Municipality of eligible expenses.
## 5: Application of this Policy
- 5(1) This Policy applies to the reimbursement of eligible expenses incurred by Councillors, Warden, Deputy Warden, CAO, and Staff in carrying out their duties and responsibilities on behalf of the Municipality.
- 5 (2) This Policy does not apply to that part of the salary or remuneration of Councillors, Warden and Deputy Warden that is an allowance for expenses incidental to the discharge of their duties as elected officials of the Municipality. For greater certainty, this Policy does not permit reimbursement of expenses for Councillors, Warden and Deputy Warden that are deemed to form part of their salary or remuneration.
- 5 (3) Councillors, Warden, Deputy Warden, CAO and Staff must exercise good judgment when utilizing funds of the Municipality as eligible expenses pursuant to this Policy.
## 6: Eligible Travel Expenses
- 6 (1) Subject to the provisions of this Policy, the Municipality shall reimburse Councillors, Warden, Deputy Warden, CAO and Staff for all reasonable and appropriate expenses for travel, meals and accommodations incurred in the course of their duties and responsibilities on behalf of the Municipality, including, but not limited to the following:
- (a) For Councillors, Warden and Deputy Warden:
- i. Attendance at the following, subject to the restrictions on reimbursement for mileage set out at in Section 6(2)(e) of this Policy:
- a. Meetings of Council;
- b. Meetings of Committee of the Whole of Council;
- c. Other meetings, seminars, conferences and/or professional development training related to the business of the Municipality where such attendance is authorized by Council and CAO; and
- d. Meetings of a board, committee or organization to which an appointment of a Councillor, Warden or Deputy Warden is made by Council, subject to the restrictions on such expenses set out at Section 7 this Policy;
## (b) For Staff and CAO:
- i. Attendance at any of the following:
- a. Meetings, seminars, conferences, and professional development training related to the business of the Municipality where such attendance is authorized by CAO (for Staff) or Warden or Deputy Warden (for CAO);
- b. Meetings of a board, committee or organization to which an appointment of Staff or CAO is made by Council, subject to the restrictions on such expenses set out at Section 7 of this Policy;
4. 6 (2) Travel expenses eligible for reimbursement pursuant to Section 6(1) of this Policy include, but are not limited to, the following expenses:
5. (a) Accommodations;
6. (b) Air fare, rail or ferry transport, taxi, parking, bridge tolls;
7. (c) Municipality-related phone calls and faxes;
8. (d) Meeting and conference registration fees;
9. (e) Mileage (actual kilometers driven) at the provincial rate in force from time to time, to be calculated as the shortest route to and from the meeting location (whether that is from a residence or office), except Councillors must not be reimbursed for travel within the geographical boundaries of a Councillor's District;
10. (f) Meals that are not already provided at the meeting or conference (unless dietary restrictions apply and are not accommodated) at the provincial rate in force from time to time.
11. 6 (3) Councillors, Warden, Deputy Warden, CAO, and Staff must use the most cost effective means of transportation in order to be eligible for reimbursement pursuant to this Policy.
12. 6 (4) The Municipality may provide a Staff Advance for travel expenses eligible for reimbursement where the Staff Advance is pre-approved by CAO. Once payment of the expense has been made, the Staff member must submit an expense claim report for the Staff Advance pursuant to Section 12 of this Policy. Any discrepancies between the amount of the Staff Advance and the actual cost of the expense claimed in the report shall be recovered by whomever incurred the cost.
13. 6 (5) Where one Staff incurs an eligible travel expense for another Staff only the Staff who actually incurred the expense will be reimbursed for the travel costs.
14. 6 (6) The Municipality must not use petty cash to reimburse expenses eligible for reimbursement pursuant to Section 6 of this Policy.
## 7: Non-Eligible Expenses
- 7 (1) There must be no reimbursement by the Municipality for any of the following activities/meetings/expenses:
- (a) Political and advocacy activities including:
- i. any expense or donation associated with the re-election of a Councillor, Warden, or Deputy Warden;
- any donation to a candidate seeking a political party leadership;
- ili. any donation to a candidate seeking a political party district nomination;
- iv. any donation to a registered political party;
- V. any donation to a candidate of a political party seeking election in either a by-election or general election provincially or federally; and
- vi. any donation to a group, organization, association, not-for-profit, or charity for the purpose of advancing its goals, mandate and/or priorities.
- (b) Mileage and other expenses related to Councillor, Warden, and Deputy Warden meetings with constituents, individual electors, or complainants located within the geographical boundaries of the Councillor's District, because the expenses incurred in the discharge of these duties are deemed to be incidental to the discharge of a Councillor's duties and included in regular remuneration and allowance;
- (c) The costs of spouses when they are accompanying Councillor, Warden, Deputy Warden, CAO or Staff on business of the Municipality;
- (d) Meetings or conferences related to organizations or boards for which the Councillor is not appointed by Council;
- (e) Alcohol or other controlled substances; and
- (f) Expenses that are reimbursed by a board, committee or organization. For greater certainty, Councillors, Warden, Deputy Warden, CAO and Staff who are reimbursed for expenses by a board, committee or organization must not be reimbursed by the Municipality for the same expenses.
## 8: Cancellations
- 8 (1) The Municipality will pay for cancellation fees for eligible travel expenses for Councillors, Warden, Deputy Warden, CAO and Staff upon approval by the relevant authority pursuant to Section 11 of this Policy.
- 8 (2) Councillors, Warden, Deputy Warden, CAO and Staff who are present to attend a meeting which is forced to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances or because there is no quorum, shall be entitled to payment for associated travel expenses, subject to the restrictions set out in this Policy.
## 9: Other Expenses
- 9 (1) The Municipality shall reimburse Staff and CAO for other expenses pre-approved by the CAO (for Staff) and by Warden or Deputy Warden (for CAO) as being essential occupational health and safety equipment for a particular employee's duties, on a case-bycase basis.
- 9 (2) The Municipality shall reimburse Staff and CAO for moving expenses preapproved by CAO (for Staff) and by Warden or Deputy Warden (for CAO) where such moving expenses formed part of a particular employee's negotiated employment package.
## 10: Receipts
- 10 (1) Councillors, Warden, Deputy Warden, CAO and Staff must provide itemized receipts for all expenses sought to be reimbursed pursuant to this Policy, except for:
- (a) meals claimed at the rates set out in Section 6(2)(f) of this Policy; and
- (b) mileage claimed at the rates set out in Section 6(2)(e) of this Policy
- 10 (2) Debit or credit card slips must not be accepted unless in exceptional circumstances.
## 11: Authorization for Reimbursement
- 11 (1) CAO, or an employee delegated by the CAO, shall have the sole signing authority to authorize reimbursement of a Councillor's expenses pursuant to this Policy.
- 11 (2) The Warden or Deputy Warden shall have the sole signing authority to authorize reimbursement of CAO's expenses pursuant to this Policy.
- 11 (3) CAO or the Municipality's CFO and the department head of the Staff member shall have sole signing authority to authorize reimbursement of Staff expenses pursuant to this Policy.
- 11 (4) Individuals are not permitted to authorize their own reimbursement.
## 12: Procedure for Reimbursement
- 12 (1) Councillors, Warden, Deputy Warden, and CAO must complete expense claim forms monthly and submit them with signature to the Finance Department of the Municipality for processing no later than five (5) business days following month end in order to be processed.
- 12 (2) Staff must complete expense claim forms and submit them with signature to the Finance Department of the Municipality for processing either after each expense or on a monthly basis no later than five (5) business days following month end.
- 12 (3) In order to be reimbursed for eligible expenses pursuant to this Policy, all expense claim forms submitted to the Finance Department of the Municipality must:
- (a) Include the business reason for the expense;
- (b) Include relevant receipts as required pursuant to Section 10 of this Policy; and
- (c) Be approved by the relevant authority pursuant to Section 11 of this Policy.
## 13: Prohibition on Misuse of Municipal Funds
- 13 (1) Any non-compliance with this Policy, and/or any fraudulent irregularity, misuse or misappropriation of the Municipality's funds by Councillors, Warden, Deputy Warden, CAO and/or Staff may include, without limitation, disciplinary action leading to termination.
## 14: Reporting Requirements
- 14(1) The Municipality must post all expense claims for Reportable Individuals on the Municipality's website after they are processed and at least within 90 days of the end of each fiscal quarter to which they relate.
- 14 (2) The Municipality must prepare an annual summary report for all expenses of Reportable Individuals to be filed with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing by September 30th of each year.
## 15: Policy Review
- 15 (1) This Policy must be reviewed by the January 31 st immediately following a regular election held under the Municipal Elections Act.
## 16: Repeal
- 16 (1) The policy of the Municipality named the "Expense Policy", last amended on February 4, 2021, and any amendments thereto, is hereby repealed.
| Date of Notice to Council: | February 6, 2025 |
|----------------------------------------------|--------------------|
| Date of Council Resolution approving Policy: | March 6, 2025 |
<!-- image -->
## Approval:
This is to certify that the above Policy was adopted by Council™ of the Municipality of the County of Inverness on March 6, 2025.
Keite Has sel
Keith MacDonald, Chief Administrator Officer
three si