2017 Commuter Benefits Overview What Are Commuter Benefits?
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2017 Commuter Benefits Overview What are Commuter Benefits? Save money on your work-related commuter expenses through your employer's benefit. • The commuter benefit allows you to set aside money from your pay on a before- tax basis to pay for eligible costs associated with commuting to and from work. The great advantage is that you don't pay federal taxes on your expenses, thus lowering your taxable income. There are two types of benefits offered: • Transportation (transit) and Parking • You can participate in both at the same time if desired. There are multiple products you can utilize under each benefit: . Transportation: Voucher, standard passes, smart card and commuter check card pre-paid MasterCard for Transit . Parking: Pay the provider, parking checks, cash reimbursement and commuter check card pre-paid MasterCard Note: Mileage, tolls, fuel, carpooling, and business travel are not eligible for this program. What are the limits? • The 2016 Pre-tax limits for Transit is $255 and Parking is $255. In addition to your pre-tax contribution to the transit/parking account, you can set aside money on a post-tax basis to help fund your monthly transportation/parking costs. Note: Plan limits are subject to change at any time in the year. Popular Transit Products Reloadable Card Passes . Commuter Check Pre-Paid MasterCard . VENTRA . MTA/NYCT Annual Pass . WMATA SmarTrip . VENTRA . METRA Program . ORCA . NJ Transit . Path SmartLink . Compass Tap & Go Vouchers / Checks . CTA Chicago Card Plus . Commuter Check Voucher . MARTA Breeze Card . MBTA Charlie Card . Clipper Card Where to Enroll • Log into the benefitsPLUS - http://www.danbenefitsplus.com/ Where to enroll (cont’d) . Click on the Commuter Benefits Tile See Appendix for additional slides with enrollment screenshots What is my deadline to enroll and make changes? Monthly Ordering window: • The ordering period is from the 11th of the current month to the 10th of the following month. All orders must be completed by the 10th of the month to be effective for the following benefit month (Long Island and Metro-North Rail Roads require a cutoff of the 4th of the month – See Appendix for additional information). o For example, all orders placed by December 10th will be effective for the January benefit month. December January Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Order Effective for January 10th Order Effective for February 8 9 10th10 11 12 13 14 11 Order12 Effective13 for14 February15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Order Effective for February 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 25 Order26 Effective27 for28 February29 30 31 29 30 31 Order Effective for February . Employees can participate or change their purchase from month to month up to the ordering deadline date. What is my deadline to enroll and make changes? Features of the service: . The ability to set up recurring orders, eliminating the need for customers to log on to the website each month to make purchases . Many products are sent directly to the customer’s home . Some parking products can be sent directly to the desired parking vendor. How do I sign up? . You must take action thru the benefitsPLUS website - http://www.danbenefitsplus.com/ Closing the Commuter Card Account “Use it or Lose it” Participant Request to Close the Account • Call the Customer Service center to request the account be closed. • Any remaining funds on the card will be applied as a credit on the ordering site immediately Lost card • Call Customer Service on the to request to a replacement card • Funds on the card will be applied as a credit on the ordering site • Once new card is issued, funds will be available on the card Parking Details What options do I have for Parking? Our parking benefits come in several forms, allowing employees to choose the product that’s best for them: • Direct Pay • Payments sent directly to providers as a commuter check on behalf of the employee, a great choice if you park at the same location monthly. • Commuter Checks Vouchers • Multi-denominational vouchers that are redeemable anywhere parking vouchers are accepted. An easy to use payment method for locations that do not accept credit cards, do not have the need to reserve a designated parking space, or have variable parking needs. • Cash reimbursement • Option commonly used for employees who utilize a parking facilities occasionally, multiple lots, parking meters, or utilizes a parking provider that will not accept checks or third party payments. Employees complete a claim process and is reimbursed. • Commuter Check Prepaid MasterCard • Reloadable debit card that can be used to pay for parking at acceptable parking facilities nationwide were MasterCard is accepted. Convenient for those whom have variable parking needs. Direct Pay – vs - Cash Reimbursement What is the difference between Direct Pay and Cash Reimbursement? - Direct pay can be set up with pre designated parking locations that have the availability to hold a parking spot for its customers on a reoccurring basis. This is a convenient way to pay for the upcoming benefit month in advance and avoid tormenting yourself over where to park. - Cash Reimbursement benefits those who do not have the need to predesignate funds to a provider, on a physical media, or have random parking needs. Once a claim is submitted and approved the out of pocket expense would be reimbursed to the account holder. Parking Order Overview . Direct Pay Orders – Wired Commute sends the parking operator a commuter check that pays for the customer’s parking . Commuter Check • A ParkCheck made out to the customer’s parking provider is mailed to the customer’s home. • Checks may be processed daily, monthly, or weekly • Checks are valid for 13 months $100.00 1 3 Tips for Planning Your Commuter Parking Monthly Elections • As you are aware, the deadline to elect the Commuter Parking Benefit is the 10th of every month for benefits that take effect the following month. The following are a few tips to know which Parking order best fits your needs: • Know in advance where you would like to park and the frequency (Daily, once a week, couple times a month, etc.) • Find out if you need to reserve a parking spot in the parking lot or garage you are interested in • Inquire about the acceptable forms of payments (Check Card, Direct Pay, Check Voucher, or Cash Only). • Depending on the acceptable form of payments, choose the Commuter Parking product that best meets your needs. Note: Impromptu cash expenses are not covered unless you already have an established Parking Cash Reimbursement Account. Additionally, parking expenses for reasons other than commuting to or parking at work are not eligible under the plan. Questions? APPENDIX Transit The following slides walk thru how to order commuter benefits (cont.) . You can learn more about how the commuter account works or go to our commuter vendor (Wired Commute) ordering platform to start reviewing what commuter products we offer. The following slides walk thru how to order commuter benefits (cont.) . This is website where you can create, delete, change, review past orders and modify your delivery address as needed. How it works! • By Clicking on “Place an Order” you can select what type of benefit your are interested in ordering. The site is set up to locate popular transit authorities based on the home zip code listed on the home tab. Placing an Order . Once you have found the transit authority of interest click on the radio button to see what product ordering options are available. If you would like to know more about the vendor and product clicking on the product name will take you to the transit authority website for more information. Placing an Order (cont.) . Additional vendor product details will be displayed if essential as you proceed thru the ordering process Placing an Order (cont.) . The next page will allow you to enter your order details Placing an Order (cont.) . Continue thru the order process keeping in mind that you will have the option to sign up for reoccurring order fulfillment if desired. If you elect the reoccurring order feature, a reminder monthly e-mail will be sent to you a week before the deadline in case you would like to make any changes or cancel the product for the upcoming benefit month. Move to the next screen by clicking on Checkout Note: Orders set up as reoccurring will continue to be filled across calendar years. Placing an Order (cont.) . If you want to make changes you can use the Edit/Delete section on this page to do so. Confirm your order and complete the purchase. What happens if I need to place an order that exceeds the Pre-Tax Limit • After the order is completed you will see the following screen. This is where you can confirm the amount that will be deducted by payroll on a before-tax and after-tax basis. • The deduction total is taken via payroll and is divided by the number of pay periods in the benefit month Commuter Check Card FAQs • One Card for transit and parking • Reloaded Monthly by Wired Commute • Minimum amount of initial load and reload is $10 • Maximum amount of initial value load and reload is of $1,000 • Contains pre and post tax money • Access to funds by the 20th of each month for initial value load or reload (i.e. Funds for January available December 20th) • Maximum amount that can be spent on card per day is $1,000 • Maximum value of card is restricted to $2,000 • Card expires 3 years from issue date • Can only be used in the United States excluding District of Columbia • Unlimited daily card swipes About Long Island Railroad & Metro North Railroad A few things to be aware of: • Customer must have an existing Mail & Ride account established • Orders must be placed no later than the fourth of the month prior to the benefit month • The transit authority sends the passes directly to the customer.