The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Spending provisions vary in Wright-Patterson contracts

Local panel to examine Wright-Patt contracting

Asphalt can only be sealed; only concrete is resurfaced
10:43 a.m.
Dollar stores get wider range of customers
10:32 a.m.
Honda gets a double-shot of good consumer news
10:30 a.m.
Anthem puts emphasis on quality
10:29 a.m.
UD researcher uses know-how to photograph local eagles
5/25/12
> More headlines

By John Nolan, Staff Writer 7:55 PM Saturday, December 5, 2009

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — The base’s contract for infrastructure work with contractor APM LLC allows Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to carry over unused funds from any year of the agreement so that the company can spend it during the following year.

The California-based company’s contract, begun in January 2007, is good for up to five years and maximum spending of $60 million. Other recent contracts prepared by the base contracting unit, the 88th Contracting Squadron, do not allow such funding carry-overs, nor do the base’s solicitations for bids on new contracts.

It is a concern for federal contracting officers, who are supposed to monitor spending with contractors to ensure that it is within contractual limits and being handled in the best interests of the government and taxpayers. Failing to abide by contract terms could be considered unfair to companies that bid for the work on the originally specified terms.

Wright-Patterson’s paving services contract issued to Diaz Construction Inc., of Piketon, and roofing services agreement with Enterprise Roofing & Sheet Metal Co., Dayton, are among current deals that do not allow carry-overs of unused taxpayer money from one contract year into the next, even if annual spending maximums aren’t reached.

“Generally speaking, we try not to exceed the maximums, because we want to be fair to everyone,” said Leonardo Manning, a former Air Force contracting officer who now teaches government contracting techniques for Defense Acquisition University, a Defense Department organization that provides training for military and civilian personnel.

An e-mail from the 88th Contracting Squadron’s lawyer in April 2009 counseled a colleague in the unit against funding carry-over provisions, stating that it would alter a contract from the form in which it was originally presented to companies for competitive bidding and eventual award.

“I agree with you that we cannot roll over unused ceiling amounts because this would exceed the scope of the contract as originally awarded,” the lawyer, Carol Satterfield, wrote in an e-mail obtained by the Dayton Daily News.

Ms. Satterfield’s advice wasn’t given in response to APM’s contract, the contracting squadron’s leadership said in replying to questions from the newspaper.

Contract language allowing funding carry-overs is not common practice, the contracting squadron conceded. But the fact that the APM contract had language different from other agreements “is not unique, and was reviewed and determined to be legally sufficient at the time of the award,” the unit said in its prepared response.

A multi-year contract helps the government plan ahead and it “helps the contractor plan their costs over several years, rather than one year,” said Manning, of Defense Acquisition University.

Air Force lawyers at the Pentagon suspended APM and related companies in September from government contracting, accusing them of concealing details of their ownership that would have prevented them from participating in government contracting competitions restricted to small businesses, through which those companies were awarded federal contracts. The Air Force said the government is investigating to determine whether crimes were committed.

Wright-Patterson is allowing APM to continue handling projects it was assigned earlier this year. U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to explain why contractors suspended by the Air Force are still being allowed to receive federal stimulus funding. Gates has asked the Air Force to respond to the senator’s query.

Townsend Jackson, APM’s chief executive officer, did not return calls to his Yorba Linda, Calif., office requesting comment.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Fiscal 2008 contract spending

During fiscal year 2008, the 88th Contracting Squadron at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base had 3,448 contracting actions for total spending of approximately $294 million for services, commodities and construction. That included 376 construction projects for a total of about $52.5 million.

Source: 88th Air Base Wing, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Share this article