GSA releases updated per diem rates

The General Services Administration has updated the per diem rates for eight metropolitan regions, including New York City, Chicago and Cincinnati. The updated seasonal rates are good through the end of September.

The changes will apply to all government travel starting May 1, according to a Federal Travel Regulation per diem bulletin finalized March 30 and published Tuesday in the Federal Register.

Rates are adjusted on a periodic basis using updated information from the lodging industry, such as data on average daily room rates, as well as information on where agency employees stay when traveling in the particular metropolitan area.

"GSA conducts per diem reviews at the request of our customer agencies," said Patrick McConnell, the agency's acting program director for travel policy.

The rate adjustment for New York City applies to lodging in all five boroughs. For the months of May and June, the maximum lodging rate will be $212 per night. For July and August, it will be $202, and for September, $282.

The Chicago rate adjustment, which covers all lodging in Cook and Lake counties, puts the rate for May at $135, and for June through August at $149. The September rate is $169 a night.

The rate for Cincinnati from May through September is $88.

Other rate adjustments, applying from May through September, are: Tacoma, Wash., at $99; Charlotte, N.C., $81; Savannah, Ga., $92; Oakland, Calif., $111; and Aiken, S.C., $68.

GSA last adjusted per diem rates in January when it announced changes to the rates published on Sept. 1, 2005.

All per diem rates are published on GSA's domestic per diem Web site.