Commissioner of Indian Affairs William Hallett announced today a policy, pursuant to the Anti-Deficiency Act, to assure that the Bureau of Indian Affairs does not spend more than Congress entitles it to spend.
The policy prohibits all area directors and program directors from obligating funds in excess of Congressional appropriations, on penalty of “appropriate administrative discipline, including, when circumstances warrant, suspension from duty without pay, or removal from office.”
To guard against deficiency spending, the Commissioner is requesting each program director to institute nine internal fund control procedures before the end of fiscal year 1981. These include: procedures for a fund availability check prior to executing the actual obligating documents; procedures for the prompt billing of all reimbursements; procedures for prompt recording of obligations in the accounting system; and procedures to ensure that no obligation will go unrecorded at year's end.
Furthermore, Area Directors are requested to provide administrative support for implementing this policy to Office of Indian Education Programs officials at the area and agency levels.
The policy also announces that the Bureau's accounting system will be modified in order to compare daily obligation against available funds, for each fund management level. This will enable immediate detection of any deficiency spending.
Hallett told program managers that implementing this policy “should strengthen your position in executing your financial/program management responsibilities.”
