Reimbursement or direct payment of faculty and staff relocation expenses will be made when it becomes necessary in employment negotiations at the discretion of the respective Appointing and Executive Officer, and considering budgetary potential.

If reimbursement or direct payment is warranted, the following applies: 

1. Only new hires of tenure track faculty and administrative professionals are eligible.

2. Moving expenses must be funded from within the hiring unit's existing budget.

3. Deans have the authority to offer up to $7,000 moving expense allowance for tenure track faculty hire.  An allowance of up to $8,000 is available for dean or appointing officer positions.  If hiring negotiations require the need to exceed the maximum allowance, or an appointing officer wishes to extend a moving expense allowance to any other type of hire, the request must be approved in advance by the vice president of that division.

4. Effective January 2018, all moving expenses that are reimbursable to the employee are now considered a taxable fringe benefit and will be taxed accordingly upon payment (refer to tax code P.L. 115-97 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.) The amount paid to the new hire is limited to and based on actual receipts.  There shall not be either payment or reimbursement for the anticipated payroll taxes resulting from the moving expense reimbursement.  Payroll taxes are the responsibility of the employee.

5. Reimbursement/payment must be made via a properly authorized Travel and Expense Reimbursement form prepared by the hiring department to which actual receipts and/or invoices must be attached. Only the reasonable costs of moving household goods and personal effects (including the expenses of packing and insurance) and the reasonable costs of transporting the employee and members of the employee's household (including lodging) from the old place of residence to the new place of residence are eligible for reimbursement/payment. Typical moving expenses normally eligible for reimbursement/payment include: payments to moving companies, truck or trailer rental charges, toll road fees, and gasoline cost for a rented or personal vehicle or mileage charges (at the current IRS moving rate) if an employee's personal vehicle is used.

While this is not an all-inclusive list, examples of typical expenses NOT eligible for reimbursement/payment are:

• Meals
• House hunting trips (and any other pre/post move trips)
• Selling expenses related to the old residence
• Expenses of purchasing the new residence
• Temporary living expenses
• Storage charges (except in-transit charges)
• Security deposits
• Moving expenses related to termination of GVSU employment

6. Upon review, approval and processing, moving expenses will be paid on the employee's next regular paycheck and the proper taxes will be withheld at that time. 

7. An executive officer may grant exceptions to this policy in specific and unusual cases.

This information is subject to change without prior notice. Contact the Accounting Office at 616-331-2203 for questions regarding reimbursable expenses, and contact Purchasing Services at 616-331-2280 for assistance with contract movers.