B-307693, Mr. Jeffrey Elmore--Request for Relief of Financial Liability, April 12, 2007

B-307693 Apr 12, 2007 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights This decision responds to a request from the Director of the Defense Automatic Addressing Systems Center, Defense Logistics Agency asking GAO to relieve a certifying officer of liability arising out of four improper purchases totaling $402.81. View Decision B-307693, Mr. Jeffrey Elmore--Request for Relief of Financial Liability, April 12, 2007 B-307693 April 12, 2007 Ms. Deborah L. Borovitcky Director Defense Automatic Addressing Systems Center Defense Logistics Agency 5250 Pearson Road, Area C, Building 207 Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433-5328 Subject: Mr. Jeffrey Elmore—Request for Relief of Financial Liability Dear Ms. Borovitcky: This responds to your letter of March 30, 2006, requesting that we relieve Mr. Jeffrey Elmore of pecuniary liability pursuant to 31 U.S.C. sect. 3528(b) for four improper government purchase card payments totaling $402.81. Letter from Deborah L. Borovitcky, Director, Defense Automatic Addressing Systems Center, to the Comptroller General of the United States, Request for Relief of Financial Liability, Mar. 30, 2006. Because Mr. Elmore did not exercise good faith when certifying the four improper payments, we decline to grant relief. The circumstances underlying your request require us to address two broader issues in addition to Mr. Elmore's liability. First, because Mr. Elmore was a certifying officer of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), an agency of the Department of Defense (DOD), we examine whether our authority to consider his relief request is circumscribed by 31 U.S.C. sect. 3527(b), which applies to all accountable officers of the –armed forces.— We conclude that GAO has statutory authority to consider Mr. Elmore's relief request because he is a certifying officer of a defense agency, not a certifying officer of the armed forces. Second, we consider the propriety of imposing liability on a certifying officer who certifies payment of a purchase card billing statement that includes improper purchase card transactions. We conclude that liability attaches to a certifying officer's certification of the billing statement for payment. Although the amount of the improper payments Mr. Elmore certified is not very large, the wider implications of your request are significant and go directly to the role of a certifying officer with respect to purchase card payments. To establish a record when rendering decisions, our practice is to obtain the views of the relevant federal agency. GAO, Procedures and Practices for Legal Decisions and Opinions, GAO-06-1064SP (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 2006), available at www.gao.gov/legal.htm. In this regard, we supplemented your original submission through e-mail and telephone conversations to obtain a clear understanding of the facts underlying the four improper purchases Mr. Elmore certified. BACKGROUND At the time of the payments at issue here, Mr. Elmore was a certifying officer for government purchase card payments for the Defense Automatic Addressing Systems Center (DAASC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.[1] DAASC is a component of the Defense Supply Center Columbus (DSCC), which in turn is part of DLA. A DSCC audit of the DAASC purchase card program found four instances of improper payments made with government purchase cards using appropriated funds. DSCC Internal Audit Office, Audit Report No. 05-15, DAASC Purchase Card Review, Nov. 17, 2005 (Report No. 05-15). These payments were for two lunches for DAASC employees and defense contractors at a local restaurant, disposable coffee cups, and a late fee paid to ParkUniversity. Id. at 2. For all four improper payments, DSCC recommended that DAASC hold Mr. Elmore, as the certifying officer, responsible to reimburse the government. Id. at 4–6. DAASC, responding to the report, said that it would request relief for Mr. Elmore. Id. DISCUSSION GAO's authority to consider relief requests from accountable officials of the armed forces is limited by 31 U.S.C. sect. 3527(b). We have not considered before whether this limitation applies to requests from certifying officers of DOD components other than the armed forces. We also have not considered the appropriate role for a certifying officer who certifies payment to a credit card bank for uses of a purchase card. We address these questions and Mr. Elmore's relief request below. GAO's Authority to Consider Relief Request GAO is authorized to relieve certifying officers of pecuniary liability resulting from improper payments when we find that the obligation was incurred in good faith, that no law specifically prohibited the payment, and that the United States government received value for the payment.[2] 31 U.S.C. sect. 3528(b)(1)(B). With respect to DOD certifying officers, this authority is limited by 31 U.S.C. sect. 3527(b).