Conference Approval, Planning and Reporting
Minimization of Costs of Meals and Refreshments
All OJP-funded contracts and grants must follow these guidelines for the costs of refreshments and meals provided at the conferences.
Refreshments
In general, refreshments are not allowable.
Meals
In general, food and beverage (meals) are not allowable. In the rare instance where prior approval is obtained to provide food and beverage at an event, the cost of any meal provided, plus any hotel service costs, cannot exceed 150 percent of the locality M&IE rate per meal per attendee.
- For example, if lunch will be provided in a locality with a $49/day M&IE rate, and the lunch rate is $13, then the cost of the lunch provided at the conference cannot exceed $19.50 ($13 x 150%) per attendee per day.
- All conference attendees must ensure that the provided meal is deducted from their claimed M&IE; in this example, the recipient would deduct $13 from the amount of M&IE claimed for the lunch provided.