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B-270403 1 (1996-09-11)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptadyn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Comptroller General of the United States Washington, D.C. 20548 Decision Matter of: Inspector General, Department of Veterans Affairs File: B-270403 Date: September 11, 1996 DIGEST In reimbursing its employees for local travel mileage, Office of Inspector General (OIG) did not deduct normal commuting expenses contrary to departmental policy. GAO concludes that OIG is employing agency for purposes of exercising administrative discretion over local travel reimbursement. See 59 Comp. Gen. 605 (1980). Hence, mileage payments made to OIG employees under its policy were proper payments and need not be collected back. DECISION The Inspector General, Department of Veterans Affairs, has requested our decision on whether certain local travel reimbursement payments were proper. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the payments were proper. BACKGROUND Pursuant to the Inspector General Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has independent personnel authority. Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, 5 U.S.C. App. 3, § 6(a)(7) (1994). OIG appropriations have also been exempt from a specific limitation on travel expenses. See, e.g., Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act of 1995, § 501, Pub. L. No. 103-327, 108 Stat. 2298, 2332 (1994). These provisions are intended to ensure the independence of OIG operations from controls which could undermine the Inspector General's ability to exercise statutory oversight of the Department. From July 1987 through December 1994, OIG reimbursed its employees for local travel mileage pursuant to a separate OIG policy which provided in pertinent part: Reimbursable mileage for local travel will be based on the lesser of mileage from official duty station to local work site or residence to local work site. 303815

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