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Expenditures Related to State Officers and Employees
Moving Expenses

Reimbursable expenses and limitations

A state agency may use appropriated money to pay the reasonable and necessary moving expenses incurred for a state employee if:

  • The employee is being reassigned from one designated headquarters to another designated headquarters of that agency, and
  • The agency determines that the best interests of the state will be served by the reassignment, and
  • The distance between the current and future designated headquarters is at least 25 miles, or
  • The employee is employed at a facility being closed or undergoing a reduction in force, and
  • The employee accepts a position with the agency at another designated headquarters that is at least 25 miles from the facility being closed or undergoing a reduction in force.

A state agency may pay or reimburse the following costs if the agency determines they are reasonable and necessary, and the costs are otherwise payable:

  • Loss of a deposit because of the breaking of a lease.
  • Lease payments that become immediately due because of the breaking of a lease.
  • Expenses incurred while looking for a new residence.

A state employee is entitled to be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in traveling by a personally owned or leased motor vehicle for a move described in this section. The reimbursement must be paid at the rate provided by the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for business-related travel by a state employee.

A state agency must use state-owned equipment for the move if the equipment is available to the agency. If the equipment is unavailable, the agency may pay for the services of a commercial transportation company or for self-service vehicles to make the move. The agency may directly pay a commercial transportation company or the owner of a self-service vehicle instead of reimbursing a state employee.

A state agency may pay for or reimburse a state employee for storage expenses incurred if the employee is required to live in state-owned housing and the housing is unavailable when the agency requires the move to be made.

Unreimbursable expenses

A transaction fee or sales commission for the sale of real property may not be paid or reimbursed.

A state employee who transfers from one designated headquarters to another because the employee is transferring from one state agency to another state agency does not qualify for moving expense reimbursements from either agency.

Prospective state employees are not eligible to receive reimbursement of moving expenses.

See also: exceptions for the following agencies:

Definitions:

Appropriated money
Money appropriated by the Legislature through the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or other law. (Texas Government Code Section 2113.001(1))
State agency
  • A department, commission, board, office or other entity in the executive branch of state government.
  • The Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, another entity in the judicial branch of state government with statewide authority or a court of appeals.
  • A university system or an institution of higher education as defined by Texas Education Code Annotated Section 61.003 (Vernon Supp. 2004), except a public junior college, which is excluded from the meaning of the term. (Texas Government Code Section 2113.001(2))

Source [+]

Texas Government Code Section 2113.204(a)(1)(2),(b)–(f).

Agency specific moving expenses

The Texas Legislature has granted several agencies broader authority to pay moving expenses for their employees’ under certain conditions.

Department of Public Safety [+]

The Department of Public Safety (DPS) may use appropriated funds to pay expenses for a commissioned peace officer transferred from one DPS headquarters to another.

Source: Rider 14 in the appropriations to the Department of Public Safety in the General Appropriations Act.

Texas Department of Transportation [+]

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) may reimburse an employee transferred from one TxDOT headquarters to another for expenses relating to:

  • Selling existing housing,
  • Purchasing and financing comparable replacement housing, and
  • Expenses for moving household goods.

The distance between the two headquarters must be at least 25 miles, and TxDOT’s executive director must determine and document that the transfer is in the best interest of the state.

The following expenses or costs are reimbursable:

  • A commission or fee due to a broker or real estate agent
  • Costs as a purchaser to obtain a home loan, including loan application fees, credit report fees and mortgage points
  • An origination fee, title insurance, a recording fee or any other closing cost required to be paid by the employee
  • A fee necessary to establish telephone, gas or electric service, excluding any refundable deposits
  • A travel expense incurred while looking for a new residence, reimbursed at the standard mileage rate, for travel to and from the new designated headquarters
  • Costs for moving household goods and effects

TxDOT may not:

  • Provide reimbursement for more than five employees per fiscal year.
  • Pay a sum of more than $15,000 to any employee.
  • Purchase or pay any part of the purchase price of any employee’s home.
  • Provide reimbursement for the purchase or financing of a house if the employee did not own and occupy existing housing at the time of the transfer.

Source: Texas Transportation Code Section 201.406.

Texas Water Development Board and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality [+]

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) may pay the cost of transporting and delivering the household goods and effects of an employee who is transferred by the TWDB executive administrator or the TCEQ executive director, from one permanent station to another.

The executive administrator/director must determine the transfer will serve the best interest of the state.

The agency must have a legislative appropriation to pay moving expenses.

Definitions:

Executive Administrator
The executive administrator of the Texas Water Development Board. (Texas Water Code Section 6.001(2))
Executive Director
The executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. (Texas Water Code Section 5.001(3))

Source: Texas Water Code Sections 5.232 and 6.193.

Documentation Requirements [+]

  1. When a state agency reimburses a state employee for moving costs, the reimbursement must be paid on a purchase voucher. For this purpose, “moving costs” does not include meals, lodging, mileage or transportation by rented or public conveyance, which must be paid or reimbursed on a travel voucher.
  2. When a state agency directly pays a commercial transportation company or owner of a self-service vehicle, the payment must be made on a purchase voucher.
  3. When an employee is transferred and reimbursed for the expenses, the documentation must include a determination by the executive administrator/director that the transfer is in the best interest of the state.
  4. A state agency must retain documentation in its files that:
    1. explains whether a state-owned vehicle was available if a commercial transportation company or a self-service vehicle was used, and
    2. states the designated headquarters from which the employee is being transferred and the designated headquarters to which the employee is being transferred.
  5. Comptroller object 7071 must be used if a commercial transportation company or self-service vehicle is used to move the household goods and effects of a state employee.