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2. The dealer’s bill was held by a later processing
activity for more than the allowable one-third of
the discount period. In these cases, the paying
activity is held responsible only if it acted as the
forwarding activity and held the dealer’s bill
longer than one-third of the discount time, and
the discount period expired while the bill was in
transit.
Regular reviews of lost discounts will point out
activities that habitually lose mandatory discounts.
Based on these reviews, monthly advice is furnished to
each of these activities. These activities will be
requested to review their procedures and take necessary
actions to prevent the continual loss of discounts. In
addition to requesting corrective actions based on
records of discounts lost, the DO will review all
activities under his or her jurisdiction at least once every
6 months. Through this review, the DO will identify
those activities regularly causing lost mandatory
discounts and will recommend appropriate actions.
INTEREST PAYMENTS.— The Prompt
Payment Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-177) requires a
federal agency to make interest payments whenever that
agency fails to make payment promptly. The interest
payment provisions of the act are viewed as a penalty
for failure to accomplish the important mission
requirement of making payments on time. The Navy’s
policy is to reduce all interest payments to a minimum
level.
When a vendor’s contract specifies a due date, the
government expects the federal agency involved to
make payment in time to avoid interest charges. But
what if your activity receives a vendor’s contract that
does not specify a due date for payment? How can you
determine the due date for payment when no due date
is specified in the contract? How can you determine
whether or not interest is payable? When a contract
fails to specify a due date for payment, the government
requires you to treat the contract in the same manner as
you would a contract that has a due date specifying
payment within 30 days. As long as your activity makes
payment within 30 days, no interest is payable.
Incidentally, the government requires your activity to
pay close attention to discounts. Interest is payable on
—
improperly taken discounts.
The Secretary of the Treasury establishes the
interest rate. Published semiannually by the Federal
Register and NAVCOMPTNOTE 4330, the interest rate
is effective for a 6-month period beginning 1 January
and 1 July. Interest is computed from the day following
the payment due date through the date of payment and
is compounded for each 30-calendar-day period
following the original due date. Interest payments of
less than $1 should not be made. No further interest will
accrue after 1 year beyond the original due date. The
filing of a claim under the Contract Disputes Act will
also stop accrual of additional interest as of the date of
filing.
What do the Prompt Payment Act and the federal
interest rate mean for a local disbursing office?
Basically, the paying office will pay interest
automatically without requiring any requests from the
vendor or business concern. Payments due on Saturday
or Sunday maybe paid on Monday or the next working
day without interest, and payments due on legal
holidays may be paid on the next working day without
interest.
PUBLIC VOUCHER FORMS
The DOD uses various types of PV forms. Figure
6-3 lists some of the most common PV forms found in
disbursing offices. The purpose of this listing is to
make you aware that certain types of transactions will
be paid on prescribed PV forms. You must be able to
determine the correct use of the properly prescribed
forms for each type of transaction.
DISTRIBUTION
Once a PV has been paid, proper distribution of its
original and copies must be made. Again, the type of
payment and the appropriation charged will determine
the number of copies needed and where they will go.
ORIGINAL
The DO retains the paid original PV, with the
original dealer’s bill and all other required supporting
documents attached, in his or her safe or security
container. (As previously mentioned, this container
must carry at least a Class 1 or Class 5 rating.) The DO
retains this documentation until forwarding it as part of
the original financial returns.
The DO forwards the returns to the central
disbursing officer (CDO) in support of the Daily
Statement of Accountability, DD 2657, or the monthly
Statement of Accountability, Standard Form 1219. The
CDO consolidates the files of all original PVs and
submits them with his or her financial returns. To
ensure the integrity of the original PVs, the CDO uses
a system of logs or check-out cards to control access to
them.
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