GSA adjusts fiscal 2006 per diem rates

The General Services Administration increased hotel per diem rates for fiscal 2006 in several metropolitan areas, including Detroit; Louisville, Ky.; Miami; St. Louis and Washington, D.C.

But lodging per diem rates fell in Atlantic City, N.J.; Charlotte, N.C; Indianapolis; Las Vegas; Los Angeles, and a number of cities in Texas and Ohio. The rate for meals and incidental expenses in almost every location increased after GSA conducted a meals study in addition to its annual lodging study.

The 2006 rates are effective on Oct. 1 and apply to travel through Sept. 30, 2006. The announcement was posted in the Federal Register Thursday and the rates are available on GSA's Web site.

Much of the United States is covered under a standard rate, based on Consumer Price Index data, which is $60 for lodging and $39 for meals and incidental expenses. But a number of locations, including nearly all major metropolitan areas, are given a per diem rate that differs from the standard.

According to the Federal Register, a GSA study found that its lodging rates failed to reflect the local economies in certain areas, so the agency increased the number of hotels in the study used to set the rates by 50 percent and only measured hotel prices from Monday through Thursday rather than the entire week.

The per diem rate in Washington now varies according to the season. From March 1 through July 31, the rate will be $187; for Aug. 1 through Oct. 31, it will be $145 and for Nov. 1 through Feb. 28, the rate will be $166.

Meals and incidentals expenses will be $64 throughout the year. The current Washington rate, which applies to the surrounding suburban areas in Maryland and Virginia, is $153 for lodging and $51 for meals and incidental expenses.

The Los Angeles rate, which includes Orange and Ventura counties, fell from $100 to $96 for lodging, while the meals and incidental rate increased from $51 to $64.

The per diem rate in Boston, which now includes Cambridge, Mass., will become consistent throughout the year with $165 for lodging and $64 for meals and incidental expenses.

Chicago's per diem was split into three seasonal rates, with $152 for June 1 through Aug. 31, $127 for Sept. 1 through Oct. 31, and $136 from Nov. 1 through May 31. The old rate was $149 for lodging year-round, and the meals and incidental expenses rate dropped from $51 to $49.

Las Vegas's summer seasonal rate - which was changed from June 1 through Aug. 31 to July 1 through Oct. 31 - dropped from $106 to $99; for the rest of the year, the rate dropped from $122 to $106. The meals and incidental rate jumped from $43 to $64.

The Atlanta region's per diem rate increased from $113 to $115 with the meals and incidental expense rate going from $43 to $49, while the rate in Indianapolis dropped from $87 to $84 with the meals and incidental rate decreased from $47 to $44.

GSA changed the classification of 20 areas for fiscal 2006 - including the Alabama cities of Montgomery and Tuscaloosa; Amarillo, Texas, and Hagerstown, Md. - and assigned the locations the standard per diem rate of $60 for lodging and $39 for meals and incidental expenses.

Five areas were moved off the standard rate and assigned higher per diem rates, including, Augusta, Ga.; three cities in Lake County, Ind.; Hunt County, Texas; Ogden, Utah, and Appleton, Wis.

For fiscal 2006, GSA combined 28 areas previously distinguished separately, including the Arizona's Grand Canyon area with Flagstaff, Ariz.; Boston with Cambridge, Mass.; Sandusky, Ohio, with Bellevue, Ohio, and the Arlington-Fort Worth area with Grapevine, Texas.