WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) today announced the new Fiscal Year 2010 (FY2010) federal per diem rates, which will take effect on October 1, 2009 and run through September 30, 2010.

Some examples of lodging changes for this year include:

Phoenix/Scottsdale, Ariz., for the Maricopa Co. area mid-season: down $120 from FY09's $122

Miami, Fla., for the Miami-Dade area mid-season: up $128 from FY09's $121

Chicago, Ill., for the Cook and Lake Cos. area high season: down $205 from FY09's $218

New York City (Manhattan) high season: down $340 from FY09's $360

Kansas City, Mo., for the Jackson, Clay, Cass and Platte Co. areas: unchanged at $107

Las Vegas, Nev., for the Clark Co. area low season: up $109 from FY09's $105

Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Hamilton Co. area: up $115 from FY09's $112

Seattle, Wash., for the King Co. area: up $159 from FY09's $158

The nation's economic downturn has affected per diem lodging rates in many localities, but overall the majority of locations did see an increase or no change in per diem lodging rates.

According to GSA, there will be a slight increase of 0.6% of the estimated lodging costs compared to FY2009. In contrast, the previous three years (FY2007-09) had an estimated average increase in lodging costs of 6.8%. In FY2010, there are about 400 areas that have per diem rates higher than the standard CONUS rate.

The standard Continental U.S. (CONUS) per diem rate for lodging, which applies to destinations that are not specifically listed on the FY2010 per diem rate schedule, remains the same as last year at $70 per night. GSA reviews the CONUS rate every three years and continues to use market data provided by Smith Travel Research to establish per diem rates. The last adjustment was for fiscal year 2008, which increased the lodging rate that had been in effect since 2005.

GSA noted in its Sept. 24 release that besides updating the lodging rates for all nonstandard areas, the meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) will increase by $7 for each of the six M&IE tiers, resulting in a $5 increase for meals and a $2 increase (from $3 to $5) for incidental expenses.

The complete FY2010 rates can be viewed on the Internet at the GSA's per diem Website, www.gsa.gov/perdiem.

Although federal per diem rates cannot formally be appealed by business representatives, the federal government's General Services Administration (GSA) does have the ability to review and modify the rates. Accordingly, AH&LA is advising members who believe their localities may be undervalued in the FY2010 per diem rate schedule with a number of helpful suggestions, which can be found on this AH&LA Advisory.

Copyright 2009 Travel Industry Wire. All rights reserved. From http://www.travelindustrywire.com.
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