Fiscal Law Final Exam
QUESTION 1
1. It is appropriate for the Army to acquire lawn cutting services through
the Project Order Statute.
True
False
QUESTION 2
1. The proper amount of money to obligate at the award o
...
Fiscal Law Final Exam
QUESTION 1
1. It is appropriate for the Army to acquire lawn cutting services through
the Project Order Statute.
True
False
QUESTION 2
1. The proper amount of money to obligate at the award of a firm fixedprice contract is:
The full amount of the contract.
Nothing until the contractor performs the required work.
Half of the total liability.
A conservative amount based on the government’s estimated
future requirements.
QUESTION 3
1. How long does the Department of Defense Financial Management
Regulation give an individual discovering a possible Antideficiency Act
violation to report it to his/her chain of command and the Financial
Management Comptroller?
5 working
days.
2 weeks.
90 calendar
days.
45 days.
QUESTION 4
1. On 1 September 2011 the command at New Sands Missile Range
purchases an x-ray machine for the installation hospital, which arrives and is
accepted on 15 September 2011. The x-ray machine is not needed until
August of 2012, when an increased number of Soldiers arrive due to BRAC.
Assuming there is no applicable delivery or production lead time exception
(as this is a commercial item and readily available off the shelf), has an ADA
violation been committed and is it correctable?
No ADA violation has been committed.
As the bona fide need is in 2012, an ADA violation has been committed
but it is correctable.
As the bona fide need is in 2012, an ADA violation has been committed,
and is not correctable since proper funds, FY 2012 O&M (or procurement,depending on the value) were not available at the time of obligation.
Although the bona fide need is in 2012, there is no ADA violation
because the command was engaged in advanced planning, and was
smartly purchasing an item ahead of the expected need and perhaps
even getting a better price.
QUESTION 5
1. On 30 September 2010, $275,000 remains in the Operations and
Maintenance, Army (OMA) allowance at the XVIII Airborne Corps. On that day,
the contracting officer is about to award a supply contract, obligating
$300,000 OMA. Award of the supply contract:
Will cause an Antideficiency Act (ADA) violation because the contract
price exceeds the amount of OMA available at the XVIII Airborne Corps.
Will cause an ADA violation unless the contracting officer shows that she
neither knew nor should have known that the XVIII Airborne Corps had
only $275,000 in the OMA account.
Will cause an ADA violation if the XVIII Airborne Corps’s major command,
FORSCOM, lacks sufficient OMA funds in its formal subdivision to cover
the overobligation.
Will not cause an ADA violation if Congress enacts either a Continuing
Resolution Authority (CRA) or a permanent appropriation before the
vendor seeks payment for the supplies.
Will not cause an ADA violation because the OMA account at the XVIII
Airborne Corps was a target/allowance and an obligation in excess of a
target/allowance can never result in an ADA violation.
QUESTION 6
1. Assume a contracting officer (KO) at Ft. Bragg, NC awards a contract
on 20 September 2010 for $10 million inadvertently committing an ADA
violation by causing the Army to exceed the amount available in its FY 2010
O&M appropriation. Which of the following is correct:
The KO is subject to administrative discipline because good faith or
mistake of fact does not relieve him from liability under the ADA.
There is no ADA violation if DoD has sufficient funds to cover the
overage.
The KO is not subject to criminal or adverse administrative action
because Ft. Bragg's allotment is an informal subdivision of funds.
The KO will surely go to jail for an ADA violation, serving a mandatory
minimum.
QUESTION 7
1. The fiscal year for the U.S. Government is a 12-month period from:1 July through 30 June.
1 October through 30
September.
1 September through 30
August.
1 January through 31
December
QUESTION 8
1. Any obligation of appropriated funds must comply with which of the
following fiscal constraints:
The Minimum Needs Rule.
The Bona Fide Needs Rule.
The Paperwork Reduction Act.
The Cost Accounting Standards
Board.
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
of 1947.
QUESTION 9
1. Due to increased operations in Afghanistan, the Army is running low on
Hellfire missiles (air launch, anti-tank missile.) Having exhausted the Missile
Procurement, Army appropriation, an enterprising comptroller recommends
using funds from the Procurement of Ammunition, Army appropriation. His
argument is that “missiles are a type of ammunition so we can use either.”
Can the Army use the Procurement of Ammunition, Army appropriation?
Yes. It is for the war effort so anything goes.
Yes. The enterprising comptroller is correct; missiles are a type of
ammunition.
No. This purchase should be handled by the Department of State as it
deals with overseas activities.
No. There is a specific appropriation for the purchase of missiles. This is
the only proper appropriation that can be used.
QUESTION 10
1. You work at the Orange Sands Missile Range (OSMR) Legal Office. The
SJA wants your advice on two pieces of equipment that he personally would
like to see purchased for use in the common break area of the legal office.
He wants to use appropriated funds to buy a refrigerator and a microwave.
His rationale is that employees (both military and civilian) need a place tostore and prepare food they bring in from home. You respond by telling him:
(Select the best answer)
The refrigerator and microwave must be purchased using private
resources. The SJA may either pay for their purchase entirely out of his
own pocket or he may take up a collection from others in the office who
will also utilize these items.
Absent any local or service-level policies to the contrary, the refrigerator
and microwave may be purchased with Operations and Maintenance,
Army appropriations. The Comptroller General has determined that such
equipment reasonably relates to the efficient performance of the agency.
The refrigerator and microwave may be purchased with Operations and
Maintenance, Army appropriations only if it is determined commercial
eating facilities are not reasonably available within the immediate area
of OSMR, or it is expected that employees will be required to work
evening or weekend hours.
Since the primary purpose of the equipment is to enhance office morale,
Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) funds should be used for the
proposed purchase.
QUESTION 11
1. On 1 September 2010 a Contracting Officer properly awards a contract
to ABC Corporation for 1000 widgets. The widgets are delivered on 1
November 2010. The Contracting Officer correctly determined that the "leadtime" exception for supplies was applicable under the circumstances. The
government paid ABC Corporation on 15 November 2010. What day did
obligation of funds for this contract occur?
1 September 2010
1 November 2010
15 November 2010
The Government and the contractor can agree on an obligation date so
the government can use funds from the fiscal year with the most money
available.
QUESTION 12
1. If a particular expenditure is not provided for by Congress, in order to
meet the requirements of the Purpose Statute, 31 U.S.C. § 1301, the
expenditure must be necessary and incident to the proper execution of the
general purpose of the appropriation. The GAO has created a three-part test
to determine whether an expenditure is a “necessary expense” of an
appropriation. Which of the following IS NOT part of the three-part purpose
test?
The expenditure must be necessary and incident to the purposesof the appropriation.
The expenditure must not be prohibited by law.
The comptroller must certify the funds.
The expenditure must not be otherwise provided for.
QUESTION 13
1. A continuing resolution is:
an authorization act
an appropriation, in the form of a joint resolution, that provides budget authority for
federal agencies, specific activities, or both to continue operation when Congress and
the President have not completed action on the regular appropriations acts by the
beginning of the fiscal year
The Department of Defense Appropriations Act
none of the above
QUESTION 14
1. The Department of Justice Trial Attorneys spoke to your contracting
officer because the contractor was successful on a claim that was filed by the
contractor on a 2005 construction project. The Court of Federal Claims ruled
that the contractor's claim was based on an in-scope modification and the
agency is responsible for paying the claimed amount. Fortunately, the funds
which funded the original contract are not yet closed. Unfortunately, the
expired funds which funded the original contract are exhausted. How should
the agency handle this judgment?
The contracting officer should seek payment from the Judgment Fund
and reimbursement using current funds.
The contracting officer should seek payment from the Judgment Fund
and disregard any reimbursement since the funds are exhausted.
The contracting officer should reallocate the FY 2005 funds to create
funding to pay the judgment.
The contracting officer cannot pay the claim without creating an
Antideficiency Act Violation.
QUESTION 15
1. Mr. Sanders is a Government Commercial Purchase Card (GCPC) holder
at Fort Coop. His boss, COL Perdue, is the G-4 (Logistics Officer). One of her
collateral duties as the G-4 includes serving as the certifying official for the
ten GCPC holders in her office. Mr. Sanders used his GCPC to pay for BG
Rooster’s (Ft. Coop’s Commander) annual Labor Day BBQ for the 25 militaryand civilian employees and 12 contractors that work in Fort Coop’s
headquarters building. It is now 1 November and someone is questioning the
purchase. Which statement is true?
Commanders have complete authority and are certainly entitled to treat
their employees to a BBQ once a year.
Since the expenditure obviously was made with last year’s funds, and
the period of availability of those funds has ended, it’s really too late to
do anything.
Since food is generally considered a personal expense, the only issue
raised by these facts is a potential ADA violation.
COL Perdue could be held pecuniarily liable if the purchase is found to be
improper.
QUESTION 16
1. An accountable officer is not liable for an improper payment:
if there was a lack of fault or negligence; if the certification was based
upon official records and the accountable officer using reasonable
diligence could not have discovered the correct information; or if the
obligation was incurred in good faith, no law specifically prohibits the
payment, and the government received some benefit.
in some parallel universe. In our world, an accountable officer of the U.S.
Government is always strictly liable for improper payments.
if the accountable officer obtained an advance decision from the proper
authority and the improper payment was made in reliance on that
advanced decision, or if he's a DoD Departmental Accountable Official
and there was no fault or negligence.
if he was completely without fault or negligence, and he sought and
reasonably relied upon the advice of his Judge Advocate before certifying
the voucher for payment.
QUESTION 17
1. When working with the reprogramming of military construction
appropriations, some of the permissible reasons for reprogramming of
military construction and family housing funds are that reprogramming is
necessary in response to:
Emergencies.
Accommodation of unexpected price increases.
A need to restore or replace damaged or
destroyed facilities.
All of the above.
QUESTION 181. When an agency “reprograms” funds, there is no change in the total amount
available in the appropriations account.
True
False
QUESTION 19
1. When operating under Continuing Resolution Authority, government agencies:
(Choose the best answer).
Are not authorized to obligate funds
Are authorized to obligate funds, but only to pay for contracts awarded during
the previous fiscal year.
May obligate funds for new contracts, but only if the new contract is not a “new
start.”
May continue on as normal, because CRA has no effect on the authority to
obligate funds.
QUESTION 20
1. Which is the most likely example of a project that would be proper
using humanitarian and civic assistance (HCA) authority (10 U.S.C. § 401)?
Building of a state-of-the-art two story health clinic in Kandahar,
Afghanistan, by an infantry platoon.
An Army doctor training local civilian doctors to stitch and bandage a
local boy's injured leg in Lagos, Nigeria, while on a COCOM approved
combined training exercise with the Nigerian Army.
Grading and paving of a 5-mile road from Ba'quabah and Al Khalis, Iraq,
by an engineering company.
Purchase of 1,000 math, science, and history books, 300 student desks,
a year's supply of paper and pencils for a school in Herat, Afghanistan.
QUESTION 21
1. True or False. DoD Commanders tasked to provide disaster assistance in Haiti
following an earthquake can fund humanitarian assistance projects for the local civilian
population with the Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP).
True
False
QUESTION 221. Under the Military Construction Codification Act (10 U.S.C. §2801), a
“Military Construction Project” is defined as:
Any construction, maintenance and repair carried out on a military
installation regardless of the source of funding.
All military construction work necessary to produce a complete and
usable facility or a complete and usable improvement to an existing
facility.
All specified military construction carried out on a military installation
with a funded cost of $1.5 million or greater.
Any specified or unspecified construction carried out by the Corps of
Engineers using Operations and Maintenance funds.
QUESTION 23
1. Which U.S. Government agency is primarily responsible for funding
foreign humanitarian or security assistance provided to our allies?
DoD- Department of Defense
USDA- U.S. Department of
Agriculture
DoS- Department of State
The U.S. Treasury Department
QUESTION 24
1. True or False. In accordance with Army Regulations, construction projects which have
a common support purpose but are not mutually dependent are funded as separate projects.
True
False
QUESTION 25
1. Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A) has the
mission to train and equip the Security Forces of Afghanistan. The CSTC-A
Commander wants to train an Afghan Battalion on Airborne Operations. The
training will take three months. It will include a two-month long airborne
school and one month of training on the Military Decision Making Process
(MDMP). It will also cost approximately $15 million to conduct the 3-month
training event. By the way, you have to build the school house and training
facilities for approximately $12 million. Can CSTC-A pay for all of this?
CSTC-A can fund the training with appropriations that Congress has
provided DoD, but we cannot build the school or training facilities
because this cost exceeds the contingency construction authority.
Yes sir, but only if we can get the DoS funds to pay for it, since this isclearly "Big T" Security Assistance Training.
We can legally fund all the planned training and construction with the
ISFF appropriation.
We can legally fund all the planned training and construction with the
ASFF appropriation.
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