Buying Season's Hidden Costs
By Allan Holmes | Tuesday, October 09, 2007 | 02:01 PM
By Allan Holmes | Tuesday, October 09, 2007 | 02:01 PM
In August, the federal IT market research firm INPUT released a report showing agencies spending a greater portion of their IT budgets in the government’s fiscal fourth quarter. That’s up from 28 percent from the four year time period of fiscal 1997 to fiscal 2000.
Tech Insider blog item wondered if such an increase in IT spending over such a short period of time increased the chance that agencies may not be aligning spending with strategic goals and wasting money.
The answer may very well be yes, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. In a recent report, the IG found that the value of purchases by the Internal Revenue Service made in the month of September increased 671 percent from 2002 to 2006. Reviewing purchases made in August and September 2006, the IG “identified deficiencies with 14 (15 percent) of 92 procurement actions …,” according to the report. “We believe appropriations regulations may have been violated for four of the actions, while all required acquisition steps were not completed for the remaining 10 actions.”
The IG also wrote:
Inefficient and ineffective procurement actions can occur when there is a rush to use funds before they expire at fiscal yearend. This rush increases the risk that items purchased may not meet the requester’s need, thus requiring a second procurement action; were not obtained at the best possible price; or did not use the best vendor or type of contract because Office of Procurement personnel do not have the time necessary to perform a full contractor competition process. Therefore, funds may be spent inefficiently and ineffectively.
Comments
There is another issue that plays into this. For the last several years the government has started the year in a "continuing resolution" and has continued in it until well into the second quarter of the fiscal year. Many federal agencies limit their expenditures during this period out of fears that when the budget finally is passed that they will have less funds available for the year. This then leads to apparently disproportionate spending in the last two quarters as the agencies try to make needed infrastructure upgrades.
It's difficult to execute a budget when said budget has not been approved or funded.
Patricia | Wednesday, October 10, 2007 | 08:33 AMGee, one of these days the govt. will have to consider actually adopting GAAP (Generally Acceptable Accounting Practices!!! How about that!
The local levels may actually have to begin developing, and most importantly defending a REAL Budget, not just one that complies with some longstanding, non-produective and archaic Govt. process.
There should not be a dime left at the end of the year if you excute your budget as was PLANNED!!!!!
Bob | Tuesday, October 09, 2007 | 02:33 PMABOUT THIS BLOG
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