Fiscal Law Questions And Answers All Correct

Fiscal Law Questions And Answers All Correct QUESTION 1 1. Which of the following is a correct statement of Fiscal Law Philosophy: If the law is silent as to whether a purchase can be made, it is probably safe to spend appropriated funds. Expenditure of appropriated funds is proper only when authorized by Congress. If the commander says buy it, don’t worry about Fiscal Law Regulations. Absent a specific prohibition, expending appropriated funds is permitted. QUESTION 2 20 points 1. It is July 2010. The contracting officer at Fort Mason is about to award a contract for a computer system that the Post Engineer will use to track work orders and inventory. This $15,000 computer system is readily available within a few days from any of several local vendors. The Post Engineer intends to place the system in a warehouse for which construction will begin in December 2010. The contract cites FY 2010, Operations and Maintenance, Army (OMA) funds. What should you advise the contracting officer? The contracting officer may award the contract citing FY 2010 OMA funds. Obligating funds in July 2010 will not violate the Antideficiency Act. The Post Engineer, however, may not pay for the system until the warehouse is completed. Because the Post Engineer will use the system to perform installation operations, and because the "lead time" exception clearly permits use of FY 2010 funds for the system, the contract award is proper. The contracting officer should not award this contract. To do so would violate the bona fide needs rule. Award now is proper if the installation later obtains Procurement funds to replace the funds obligated for the computer system. None of the above. QUESTION 3 20 points 1. If a particular expenditure is not provided for by Congress, in order to meet the requirements of the Purpose Statute, 31 U.S.C. § 1301, the expenditure must be necessary and incident to the proper execution of the general purpose of the appropriation. The GAO has created a three- part test to determine whether an expenditure is a “necessary expense” of an appropriation. Which of the following IS NOT part of the three- part purpose test? The expenditure must be necessary and incident to the purposes of the appropriation. The expenditure must not be prohibited by law. The comptroller must certify the funds. The expenditure must not be otherwise provided for. QUESTION 4 20 points 1. It is 14 September 2010 and Fort TJAGLCS still has $4000 in FY 2010 Operations and Maintenance, Army appropriations that it "needs" to spend. MAJ I.M. Themann, the Supply Officer at TJAGLCS, has a brilliant idea. At a recent union meeting, several employees complained about the taste of the cold brown water coming out of several water fountains. The cold brown water, however, is not unhealthy, unsafe, unpotable, or unwholesome. MAJ Themann decides Fort TJAGLCS should get water coolers to use as substitutes for the water fountains. By calling local vendors, he determines $3600 is enough money to pay for one year of water delivery service (five water coolers and ten 5- gallon containers of water for each of those water coolers each month). MAJ Themann has stopped by your office to determine how to execute this brilliant idea and whether he has the right money to use. He wants the bottled water delivery services to commence tomorrow, 15 September 2010, and to last through 14 September 2011. What do you tell him? Use of FY 2010 Operations and Maintenance, Army appropriations is proper, under 10 U.S.C. §2410a, to buy this bottled water delivery service. Use of the FY 2010 Operations and Maintenance, Army appropriations is only proper to cover the time period running 15 September 2010 to 30 September 2010. Fort TJAGLCS must fund the period running from 1 October 2010 to 14 September 2011 with FY 2011 Operations and Maintenance, Army Appropriations. Since most of the contract period is FY 2011, this is clearly a bona fide need of FY 2011, so Fort TJAGLCS must use FY 2011 Operations and Maintenance, Army Appropriations to fund the entire contractual period. Fort TJAGLCS may not use appropriated funds of any kind to fund the purchase of the water or the coolers, under these facts.