Rotorhead

SEE GAO opinion B-317636

On ‎8‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 6:00 PM, Tigerlady77 said:

I just got assigned a contract for severable services in which I am to exercise option year 1. The base year ends on 30 September 2019 and option year 1 begins on 1 October 2019. The customer provided a PR&C with FY19 O&M funding and wants to fund the option year with this money. Even though the funding will be obligated prior to the fiscal year (as the option has to be exercised prior to contract expiration), the funding that will be used for services will not begin until the next fiscal year. This does not seem right to me and I feel it does not meet the Bona Fide Needs  rule, which requires appropriated funds be used only for goods and services for which a need arises during the period of that appropriation’s availability for obligation, as the services do NOT cross fiscal years. To me, the option year is a need of FY20's need and not FY19's need so I feel like this would be a violation of the Bona Fide Needs rule.

Question:  Can an option year on a severable services contract that begins and ends in the same fiscal year (in this case, 1 October 2019 thru 30 September 2020) be considered a "bona fide need" for the previous FY (in this case, FY19) since we are exercising the option in FY19 and therefore could use FY19 appropriated funding for the FY20 period of performance?