Summary: GAO identified weaknesses in the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) personnel practices.
GAO noted that: (1) according to an interagency agreement signed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and USDA, an employee was detailed to SBA on a reimbursable basis from June 20, 1994, to September 20, 1994; (2) the interagency agreement provided for reimbursement of the employee's salary; (3) however, a SBA official informed GAO that as of May 25, 1999, SBA had not received a bill from USDA for this employee's services and therefore, reimbursement had not been made; (4) in accordance with a 1985 Comptroller General decision, details for which reimbursement is not made would, except in limited circumstances: (a) violate the statutory provision that appropriations must be spent only for the purpose for which they are appropriated; and (b) unlawfully augment the appropriations of the receiving agency; (5) GAO has not examined interagency details at USDA; and (6) consequently, GAO does not know if this particular case is an anomaly or symptomatic of a broader misapplication of internal controls governing reimbursements for interagency details.
