About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

B-258357 1 (1996-01-03)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacwva0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 


United States
General Accounting Office
Washington, D.C. 20548

Office of the General Counsel






B-258357


January 3, 1996


Mr. Darold D. Foxworthy
Authorized Certifying Officer
Washington  Office, Forest Service
Department  of Agriculture

Dear Mr Foxworthy:

In your letter of August 26, 1994, you requested that imprest fund cashier Bonnie J.
Luckman  be relieved of the responsibility to reimburse her imprest fund for a
shortage that resulted from the physical loss of subvouchers from the fund. You
indicated that Ms. Luckman had been billed for the loss because United States
Department  of Agriculture (USDA) was unable to show that she was not negligent
in the loss of the subvouchers. You further stated that you believed that the
government  has not sustained a monetary loss but a loss of documenation. You
conclude that it would not be in the best interest of the government or in good
conscience to require Ms. Luckman to repay her imprest fund shortage because the
government  did not sustain an actual monetary loss.

For the reasons indicated below, we are unable to free Ms. Luckman of the
responsiblity to repay the shortage in her imprest fund. Further, because USDA has
been unable to find that the shortage was not the result of Ms. Luckman's fault or
negligence, we are unable to relieve her of liablity under 31 U.S.C. § 3527(a).

Background

On August  14, 1992, Bonnie Luckman, imprest fund cashier at the supervisor's
office, Sawtooth National Forest, Twin Falls, Idaho, reported the loss of a blue
folder containing subvouchers (receipts) that she was processing for payment to the
National Finance Center. The folder also contained a cashier subvoucher register,
which Ms. Luckman  had been using as a subvoucher log to permit reconstructing
the file in case of loss. Ms. Luckman indicated that at the time the folder
disappeared she had been carrying it with her during a fire situation at the forest


3591219

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:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most