Appropriations/Financial Management | Purpose availability Necessary expenses rule Miscellaneous expenses Department of Defense (DOD) may pay overseas travel expenses for recruiters from public schools to attend job fairs for teachers at DOD Dependent Schools provided DOD determines that the expenditure is necessary to accomplish the purpose of the appropriation charged. Purpose availability Necessary expenses rule Travel expenses Recruitment 229 Department of Defense (DOD) may pay overseas travel expenses for recruiters from public schools to attend job fairs for teachers at DOD Dependent Schools provided DOD determines that the expenditure is necessary to accomplish the purpose of the appropriation charged. ■Purpose availability | Necessary expenses rule | Unclaimed monies Finder fees 229 Treasury may use its appropriations to purchase information identifying unclaimed properties belonging to the agency if it can show that the purchase of such information is a necessary expense of the appropriation charged. Purpose availability Representational funds Meals 86 The Director of the Trade and Development Program (TDP) may use "representation and entertainment" fund to pay the cost of meals at interagency briefings for executive branch employees hosted by him in his official capacity since the TDP briefings given by the Director are representational in nature and occur during regular business hours. Purpose availability Research GOCO plants Determination 310 The Library of Congress, Federal Research Division may not be treated as a “government-owned establishment" (GOGO) for the purposes of the Defense of Department (DOD) Project Orders Statute, 41 U.S.C. § 23 (1988). The Project Orders Statute addresses transactions between DOD and those Appropriations/Financial Management establishments, such as arsenals and shipyards, which are owned and operated by or on behalf of the military departments. Transactions between DOD and other government agencies are governed by the Economy Act, 31 U.S.C. § 1535 (1988). Purpose availability Specific purpose restrictions Meals 172 Appropriated funds are not available to pay the cost of meals at quarterly managers meetings of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These expenses do not fall under the training exception of 31 U.S.C. § 4109 merely because of the presence of speakers. The sessions also do not fall under the meetings exception of 31 U.S.C. § 4110 since this provision has little or no bearing on purely internal business meetings or conferences sponsored by government agencies. Purpose availability ☐☐Specific purpose restrictions ■ Publicity/propaganda 178 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) expenditure for buttons and magnets inscribed with messages related to indoor air quality for distribution at EPA conferences is a proper use of EPA's appropriated funds since the items are intended to convey a message related to EPA's mission. Purpose availability Specific purpose restrictions State/local governments 73 Under a contract which provides that the government pay "the actual direct costs" for the materials used under the contract, the government is not constitutionally immune from Utah state sales taxes paid by the contractor for such materials. The legal incidence of the state sales tax falls on the contractor as the purchaser of supplies in the state and the government may therefore reimburse the contractor for the taxes. 107 Purpose availability Travel expenses ☐☐☐ Public transportation systems Federal agencies are required by section 118 of the Clean Air Act to comply with state regulations regarding the control of air pollution. 42 U.S.C. § 7418(a). Section 118 provides the statutory basis for an agency's use of appropriated funds to comply with a state regulation under which employers are required to provide financial incentives to employees for commuting to work by means of public transportation, carpooling and vanpooling, bicycling, and walking. 225 Appropriations/Financial Management Time availability Fiscal-year appropriation ☐☐☐ Substitute checks Department of the Treasury is responsible for the payment of settlement checks issued to replace checks paid over forged indorsements and such payments must be charged against the Check Forgery Insurance Fund (Fund). There is nothing either in the text or legislative history of the Competitive Equality Banking Act of 1987 that indicates that the Congress intended to eliminate the Fund or change the established process for issuing settlement checks to replace checks paid over forged indorsements. ■Time availability ■Fiscal-year appropriation ■■Unobligated balances 295 The National Endowment for the Humanities may use unobligated fiscal years 1990 and 1991 appropriations, returned by some grantees as excess to their needs, to cover the cost of audits of other 1990 and 1991 grantees whose grant awards were not sufficient to fund audit costs. ■Time availability Time restrictions ■■■Fiscal-year appropriation Rebates 175 Rebates from Travel Management Centers redistributed to paying federal agencies must be credited to the appropriation initially charged the cost of employee travel, including a paying account that has expired for the purpose of incurring new obligations. Therefore, rebates initially charged to expired accounts may not be deposited to the credit of the fiscal year travel accounts current at the time the rebates are received. Budget Process Advances Repayment 109 ■Interagency agreements Appropriations advanced by an ordering agency under an Economy Act agreement, 31 U.S.C. § 1535, should be returned to the ordering agency by the agency filling the order to the extent that the amount advanced is in excess of actual costs incurred by the performing agency. 120 Appropriations/Financial Management Funds transfer Authority Interagency agreements An Economy Act agreement, which terminated over 10 years ago, may not be treated as a reimbursable agreement by the performing agency, and the balance of funds transferred under the agreement may not be used to provide the agency with reimbursable authority. Funds transfer Unobligated balances ☐☐☐ Authority 120 The National Endowment for the Humanities may use unobligated fiscal years 1990 and 1991 appropriations, returned by some grantees as excess to their needs, to cover the cost of audits of other 1990 and 1991 grantees whose grant awards were not sufficient to fund audit costs. Invoices Parking fees Reimbursement ☐☐☐☐ Authority 175 The Bureau of the Mint has authority to reimburse the General Services Administration for a line item charge for parking included in an invoice for the rental of office space. Miscellaneous revenues Treasury deposit ☐☐☐ Purpose availability 139 Certain moneys received by the Secretary of the Treasury, as successor to the United States Synthetic Fuels Corporation, were properly credited to the Energy Security Reserve rather than as miscellaneous receipts. These receipts are available to defray expenses incurred by Treasury in administering financial assistance contracts and carrying out the duties of the Corporation, as directed by the provisions of the Energy Security Act. Permanent/indefinite appropriation 164 Under 31 U.S.C. § 1555 an appropriation account available for obligation for an indefinite period shall be closed if the head of an agency or the President determines that the purposes for which the appropriation was made have been carried out and no disbursement has been made against the account for two consecutive years. The purposes for which appropriations were made for the Fund continue to exist and FMS has not shown sufficient justification for closing the account under 31 U.S.C. § 1555. Treasury should restore balances in the Fund and charge all claims against the Fund or seek permanent indefinite appropriations or Congressional authority to repeal the Fund. 295 Appropriations/Financial Management Prior year accounts ■■Adjustments Refunds This Office has no objection to agencies accepting a credit and applying it against a current year invoice in order to effect a refund of prior year payments in lieu of requiring a vendor to issue a refund check, unless the method of making the refund is specifically governed by a law, regulation, or contract. If the credit is for a "de minimis" amount of $100 or less, this Office also has no objection to agencies accepting the "de minimis" credit without adjusting the prior year accounts to reflect the credit as a refund to the accounts. Prior year accounts Refunds ■ Accounting 63 This Office has no objection to agencies accepting a credit and applying it against a current year invoice in order to effect a refund of prior year payments in lieu of requiring a vendor to issue a refund check, unless the method of making the refund is specifically governed by a law, regulation, or contract. If the credit is for a "de minimis" amount of $100 or less, this Office also has no objection to agencies accepting the "de minimis" credit without adjusting the prior year accounts to reflect the credit as a refund to the accounts. 63 Claims Against Government | Contract terms Taxes Reimbursement Under a contract which provides that the government pay "the actual direct costs” for the materials used under the contract, the government is not constitutionally immune from Utah state sales taxes paid by the contractor for such materials. The legal incidence of the state sales tax falls on the contractor as the purchaser of supplies in the state and the government may therefore reimburse the contractor for the taxes. Claims By Government Debt collection | Unclaimed monies ■Information ■ Purchases 107 Contracting authority under the Debt Collection Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3718, is not available to the Department of the Treasury for the purchase of information identifying unclaimed property, typically |