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Travel Expenses Reimbursed Within 50 Miles of Official Station

Report Information

Date Issued
Report Number
2020-15726
Report Type
Audit
Description
We audited the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) travel expenses reimbursed within 50 miles of an official station to determine if they complied with Federal Travel Regulation and TVA policies and procedures. Our audit scope included approximately $500,000 of travel expenses within 50 miles of a TVA employee's official duty station occurring from October 1, 2018, through March 26, 2020.We found that (1) TVA’s approval process did not ensure expenses for travel within 50 miles of an official station complied with TVA’s travel policy, (2) TVA does not have documented procedures to ensure flat-rate-travel reimbursements are being verified appropriately or reimbursed properly, (3) TVA’s human resources system had incorrect official stations shown for 25 of 74 employees included in our samples, and (4) TVA’s travel policy provides limited guidance addressing the assignment and review of official stations. We made four recommendations to TVA management to strengthen controls around travel expenses reimbursed within 50 miles of an official station. TVA management provided actions they plan to take to address each of our recommendations.
Joint Report
Yes
Participating OIG
Tennessee Valley Authority OIG
Agency Wide
Yes (agency-wide)
Questioned Costs
$0
Funds for Better Use
$0
View report on Oversight.gov

Recommendations

We recommend the Vice President, People First Solution Center correct assignment of official stations in TVA's HR system and develop specific guidance on assigning and periodically reviewing official stations, specifically for positions requiring frequent travel to multiple locations, to ensure the ERS control is operating effectively.

We recommend the Vice President and Controller, Corporate Accounting reinforce the policy to approving officials and approval delegates for travel reimbursements within 50 miles of an official station.

We recommend the Vice President and Controller, Corporate Accounting update TVA-SPP-13.022 to provide guidance on the determination of reasonableness of expenses within 50 miles of an official station and how these expenses should be documented and coded in ERS.

We recommend the Vice President and Controller, Corporate Accounting update TVA-SPP-13.022 to communicate how flat-rate-travel reimbursements should be verified and documented to ensure the 40-mile requirement is being met and the expenses are valid.