Three Agriculture Department agencies failed to use preferred contracts in the procurement of professional services for about two-thirds of the funds assigned for such purchases from fiscal 2009 to 2013, the Government Accountability Office found.
That amounts to about $783 million of the nearly $1.8 billion USDA set aside in that time frame for professional services contracts, according to GAO’s report. USDA’s Departmental Management, Food and Nutrition Service, and Forest Service account for about 70 percent of the department’s total obligations for professional service contracts, but only about 37 percent of the funds were awarded via performance-based, firm-fixed-price contracts, the kinds that the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Office of Management and Budget say should be used to the maximum extent possible.
Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernment.com/story/usda-departments-need-better-contract-management-gao-finds/2014-10-30
