GovernmentExecutive.com

The Homeland Security Department's Federal Protective Service fails to pay contractors on time and does not effectively monitor its contract guard program, according to a new audit report.

Because of poor oversight, security contractors that failed to meet the terms of their agreements slipped by unnoticed, the DHS inspector general stated in the report. Inspectors focused on the Washington area.

One guard continued working for a contractor even though FPS had notified her company she needed to be removed from her post because of an assault conviction, the IG said. Other FPS contract employees' "suitability determinations," which include criminal background checks, went too long before being recertified, or expired and were left that way.

The IG also found that some contract guards stationed at "armed" posts lacked guns and, conversely, there were armed guards at posts that didn't require firepower. Some guards lacked the proper clearance to be at their post and others failed to carry "qualification cards" for pistols and batons.

"[T]hese lapses in contractor oversight can result in the government paying for services it did not receive, loss of monies resulting from contract deductions due to nonperformance, and placing FPS-protected facilities, employees and facility visitors at risk," the report stated.

A review of more than 25,000 invoices paid from October 2004 to November 2005 indicated that FPS violated the Prompt Payment Act with 88 percent of its contractors, the inspectors said. The agency's transition from the General Services Administration into DHS' Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was "inadequately planned," the report said, and resulted in the payment of more than $1.2 million in interest to contract guards during the review period.

In a Sept. 13 letter to the inspector general, ICE Assistant Secretary Julie Myers said the agency is working to ensure compliance with contracts and that FPS continues to address "payment timeliness issues."

Myers noted that "[t]he FPS transition from GSA to ICE, particularly the transition of financial system data, was difficult ... given the lack of a strong FPS infrastructure."

Multiple FPS sources said the agency, due to its budget shortfall, has for months failed to pay contractors on time and remains behind on some payments. FPS' shortfall has surpassed the $60 million mark, and the agency has sought to cut costs by offering early retirement packages, tipping off employees on job openings elsewhere within ICE and shortening hours for federal guards.

COMMENTS

• How did they violate the Prompt Payment Act if they paid the interest the act requires? "Late" payment of invoices often is a good management decision and should be evaluated properly! $1.2 million in interest is very reasonable if the amount of late payments averages about $24 million annually. The Treasury cannot raise money any cheaper than that at the current time! Thus, if the amount averages $24 million or more in late payments the department is making a very good decision for the country and the taxpayers. The IG needs to look at the result of the action and not in terms of some law that they misstate! If the IG's statements are correct, why do banks not meet their reserve requirements continuously? Why do private sector companies pay later than the invoice would request? Why do consumers kite checks and pay late? The problem discovered here is that the IG does not have the capability to evaluate the late payments properly! Taxpayer Posted November 20, 2006 7:55 AM