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Park the money


Maquoketa

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The requests of my customers never get old.  I had two construction task order projects that came in below the Engineer's Estimate and funding available for the project.  They are looking for a way to keep the excess money on the contract.  I have included their email request for your viewing pleasure. How would you respond? 

Engineer's email:

We’ve had a few chats about the extra funds on the IDIQ task orders. Assuming the evaluation panel’s recommended contractors are awarded the task orders, than some of the task orders had higher dollar amount allocated in the requisition than the bids that came in. With regards to the extra funding for those projects, I was instructed that we need the full requisition amounts to stay with those task orders as of now, rather than releasing the extra funds.

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How about,

"Please tell me the name and title of the person who provided your instruction and the regulatory citation for that instruction.  I will consider whether your instruction takes precedence over 48 CFR 32.703-1(a), which tells me that funds will be obligated to cover the price (or target price) of a fixed-price contract or the estimated cost and any fee of a cost-reimbursement contract.  If there is no reasonable basis for your instruction, will it be okay with you if I refer this matter to the inspector general for a fraud-waste-abuse investigation?"

 

 

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By the way, in the old days we had ways of dealing with situations like this -- for example, we might have included additive items in the schedule, or options that could be exercised at time of award -- all of these possibilities can still be used today if program managers and contracting officers work together to plan an acquisition.

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This is what I would write:

"I can only record an obligation for the amount of the obligation created by the task order. If you want to commit the funds that were not obligated, then you should speak to the financial management folks because I don't have that authority. If you need any help, let me know."

I prefer to assume the engineer is just ignorant of the rules, not that they are knowingly intent on doing something illegal. Help them solve their problem.

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I would ask the engineer to explain how he/she intends to ensure compliance with 31 U.S.C. 1501.  The overrecording of an obligation will not help Uncle Sam achieve auditability and frustrates accountability.

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