Federal Reports

The Milam Dairy Annex is in the South Florida District of the Southern Area. The delivery unit has 38 city routes delivered by 45 full-time city carriers and 34 city carrier assistants. The unit also has 18 clerks. Forty-two percent of the unit’s delivery points are businesses. We chose the Milam Dairy Annex based on the number of stop-the-clock scans occurring at the unit. Our objective was to review select mail delivery and customer service operations at the Milam Dairy Annex and provide the Postal Service with timely information regarding those operations.

Postal Service employees with delegated purchase card local buying authority (cardholders) may use the expense purchase card in accordance with purchase card policies and procedures and are required to obtain approval for purchases. Purchase card local buying authority is the authority to buy and pay for day-to-day operational needs up to $10,000. Cardholders must maintain records to support their purchases for three years. Our objective was to assess Postal Service purchase card transactions for potential non-compliance and for improper or erroneous payments.

Our objective was to (1) determine whether the Social Security Administration (SSA) made payments to beneficiaries and representative payees who were deceased according to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and (2) identify non-beneficiaries in the Commonwealth's death files whose death information did not appear in the Agency's records.

Following Hurricane Maria, FEMA did not maximize the use of advance contracts to address identified capability deficiencies and needs in Puerto Rico. Specifically, we identified 49 of 241 new contracts issued in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria for the same goods or services covered by existing advance contracts. We attributed FEMA’s limited use of advance contracts to its lack of a strategy and documented planning process for ensuring maximum use of advance contracts. Further, FEMA did not maintain contract files in accordance with Federal acquisition regulations and departmental or its own policy. This occurred because FEMA’s Office of the Chief Procurement Officer did not have controls in place to ensure contract personnel follow Federal regulations and departmental or its own internal policy. As a result, FEMA’s ability to hold contractors accountable for deliverables is hindered if contract files are not easily located. We made four recommendations to help FEMA improve its strategy for advance contracts, its process for identifying capability needs and gaps, and its contract file management practices. FEMA concurred with all four recommendations and described corrective actions it plans to take.