About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

GGD-82-44 1 (1982-06-08)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabdjb0001 and id is 1 raw text is: UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 ( June 8, 1982 GZNERAL GOVERNMDT DIVIIIN The Honorable Cora P. BeebeII1111011 Assistant Secretary for Administration 118644 Department of the Treasury Dear Ms. Beebe: Subject: Improvements In Small Purchasing Activities Can Save Money, Increase Competition, and Achieve Required Goals'(GAO/GGD-82-44) We have reviewed small purchasing operations at the New York and Los Angeles offices of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Customs Service. At all four locations our sample trans- actions showed (1) many purchases were made without competition, (2) purchases often were directed from program offices rather than controlled by procurement officials, (3) various set-aside and sheltered procurement programs were not implemented, and (4) many transactions were for less than $500 but were paid using costly purchase order procedures. These low cost transactions are now payable by cash under the newly raised imprest fund level. We estimate that by increasing competition, implementing required procurement preference programs, and using more cash payments, Treasury will save over $2 million in its small pur- chasing activities. Most Federal procurement actions fall into the small pur- chase category (less than $10,000). In fiscal year 1981 the Federal Government recorded about 18.1 million procurement trans- actions totaling about $134 billion. Small purchases accounted for 97 percent of these transactions (17.6 million) and 8 per- cent of expenditures ($11.1 billion). Comparable fiscal year 1981 totals were recorded at Treasury, with small purchases ac- counting for about 104,000 transactions and $87 million (99 and 25 percent, respectively, of Treasury procurement totals). Federal procurement regulations are based on over 4,000 separate legal provisions and total over 64,000 pages. Annually, over 21,000 pages are either replaced or modified. This makes it difficult to keep up with proper procurement procedures. The introduction of various socioeconomic objectives (such as prefer- ences for small and minority businesses) into the procurement process also serves to further complicate its administration. (019006)

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most