B-296946.7, University of Dayton Research Institute--Costs, October 23, 2006

B-296946.7 Oct 23, 2006 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) requests that our Office recommend the amount the Department of the Air Force should reimburse UDRI for the costs of filing and pursuing a protest UDRI previously filed with our Office; the agency responded to UDRI's protest by taking corrective action. See University of Dayton Research Inst., B-296946, Oct. 19, 2005. Following our dismissal of UDRI's protest, UDRI submitted a request to this Office, seeking our recommendation that the agency reimburse UDRI for the costs it had incurred in filing and pursuing the protest. In response, the agency stated that it intended to reimburse UDRI for its reasonable protest costs. Accordingly, we closed our file on UDRI's request, pending the parties' agreement regarding the properly reimbursable amount. The parties have been unable to reach agreement on that issue. On June 14, 2006, UDRI submitted a request that this Office recommend the proper amount of reimbursable costs. We recommend that the Air Force reimburse UDRI $74,912.17 for the costs of filing and pursuing its protest. View Decision B-296946.7, University of Dayton Research Institute--Costs, October 23, 2006 Decision Matter of: University of Dayton Research Institute--Costs File: B-296946.7 Date: October 23, 2006 Daniel A. Bellman, Esq., and William R. Wernet, Esq., for the protester. Lt. Col. Sharon K. Sughru, Department of the Air Force, for the agency. Eric M. Ransom and Glenn G. Wolcott, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protester may be reimbursed for its protest expenses only to the extent that they are adequately supported by documentation reflecting the costs incurred. 2. Protester is not entitled to recover costs associated with deciding whether to protest, or costs associated with a settlement. 3. Protester is not entitled to reimbursement for time spent pursuing its claim for costs, where delay in the agency's consideration of claim was caused by protester's inability or unwillingness to perfect its claim. DECISION University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) requests that our Office recommend the amount the Department of the Air Force should reimburse UDRI for the costs of filing and pursuing a protest UDRI previously filed with our Office; the agency responded to UDRI's protest by taking corrective action.[1] SeeUniversity of Dayton Research Inst., B-296946, Oct. 19, 2005. Following our dismissal of UDRI's protest, UDRI submitted a request to this Office, seeking our recommendation that the agency reimburse UDRI for the costs it had incurred in filing and pursuing the protest. In response, the agency stated that it intended to reimburse UDRI for its reasonable protest costs. Accordingly, we closed our file on UDRI's request, pending the parties' agreement regarding the properly reimbursable amount. The parties have been unable to reach agreement on that issue. On June 14, 2006, UDRI submitted a request that this Office recommend the proper amount of reimbursable costs. We recommend that the Air Force reimburse UDRI $74,912.17 for the costs of filing and pursuing its protest. UDRI initially submitted its cost claim to the agency on March 21, 2006, seeking recovery of $84,701.25, which represented attorneys' fees, UDRI employee salaries, and other expenses. The agency responded on March 27, stating that UDRI had not supplied sufficient documentation to support its costs, and requesting that UDRI further document its claim. UDRI provided some additional documentation on April 20 and, in a communication to UDRI dated June 5, the agency recognized that $51,938.68 of UDRI's costs were properly reimbursable. Nonetheless, in its June 5 communication with UDRI, the agency declined to accept as reimbursable the costs claimed for UDRI personnel, noting that UDRI had not provided documentation supporting those costs. The agency also challenged UDRI's calculation of attorneys' fees to the extent they exceeded the $150 per hour rate limitation for successful large business protesters imposed by the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 (CICA).[2] Finally, the agency challenged UDRI's recovery of costs that were incurred after this Office's October 19, 2005 dismissal of UDRI's protest. On June 9, 2006, UDRI responded to the agency's June 5 communication, declining to provide any salary data to support its claimed personnel costs, stating: –[UDRI] does not release salary data directly to any sponsor, government or commercial.— Letter from UDRI Counsel to Contracting Officer, June 9, 2006, at 2. Further, UDRI suggested that it was the responsibility of the agency to engage an –authorized audit agency— to verify the validity of UDRI's claim for costs in this regard. Id. at 3.