WASHINGTON -- The General Services Administration raised the
maximum lodging rate for federal travelers in El Paso, Texas, from
$56 to $78, effective immediately.
It is expected to be the only revision in lodging per diems this
year.
The GSA acted after learning that an unusually large number of
federal undercover agents travel to El Paso and, for security
reasons, do not use the federal charge card when checking into
hotels.
As a result, data on their trips did not show up in the charge
card database that the GSA used to set per diem rates for 1998.
When the GSA realized it needed to take another survey of El Paso
hotels to set a new rate, it had to include higher-priced
properties, and the rate went up for all federal travelers and
cost-reimbursable contractors.
The maximum reimbursable per diem for meals and incidentals at
El Paso stayed at $34, resulting in a total $112 per diem.