In Reply To: 2930 (924.2) P EMAIL TRANSMISSION – 3/20/06 Information Bulletin No. MT 2006-036 To: Field Managers Attention: Outdoor Recreation Planners From: Deputy State Director, Division of Resources Subject: Audit of Commercial Special Recreation Permits (SRPs) in Montana DD: 05/01/2006 Purpose: The purpose of the subject IB is to provide information regarding an upcoming audit of commercial SRPs in Montana. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) established a national policy requiring the BLM to charge fees and assure a fair return to the public for the commercial use of public land. The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) also gives BLM authority to charge fees for SRPs. The planned audit is necessary for several reasons: 1) Periodic audits are one of the ways BLM can assure a fair, equitable, and consistent business environment for permittees, 2) audits assure that the American public receives fair market value from the commercial use of its public land, 3) Montana continues to issue, administer, and collect sizable fees through SRPs, and 4) the audit will help us determine if we are applying the SRP handbook regulations appropriately. Background: The Bureau of Land Management’s 2006 AWP for the 1220 program directs, “States that have not completed a statewide audit (contracted by a certified public accountant) within the past two years of their commercial special recreation permit program should complete audits within either fiscal year 2006 or 2007.” The rationale for this audit is to determine how efficiently the program is being run and to determine if there are under/over payments as a result of inaccurate fee calculations by BLM, or as a result of underreporting by permittees. Since 2003, new manual guidance has been developed, and several instruction memoranda which further clarify guidance have been issued by the WO. Recently, Montana reissued guidance, IM No. MT-2005-053, on the two ways to count permittee discounts on public lands. In addition, at the 2006 Recreation/Wilderness Workshop, the updated “Montana/Dakotas Special Recreation Permit Information for Guiding and Outfitting on BLM-Administered Public Lands” will be handed out. The auditors will be contacting selected permittees to determine that the government has been properly paid for the use of public land authorized by SRPs. Auditors will focus on determining gross revenues related to permit use for the 2004 and 2005 season and will also be looking at claimed deductions and adjustments. Policy/Action: The State Office will mail a letter to all commercial permittees notifying them of the upcoming audit, along with information that will be helpful in preparing for an audit; including information about recordkeeping, definitions of terms used, and step-by-step examples of how to calculate fees due the BLM. Field offices will need to submit, to the MSO recreation lead, possible permittees to review by May 1, 2006. Field offices should provide a listing of up to five permits they request to be audited that represent a sampling of the type of activities permitted in their respective field office (e.g., river, outfitter and guide, OHV back country tours, therapeutic groups, etc.). Since each audit costs about $1,000, we will focus our audits on permits with total receipts of $1,000 and above. However, if there are concerns with suspected underreporting of the smaller permits, they may also be submitted for consideration. The contractor performing the audit will spend about 1 week in each field office between the first week of June and mid-August 2006. The field office outdoor recreation planner in charge of selected permits will assist the auditor during the visit. The MSO Outdoor Recreation Planner will be the Contracting Officer Representative for this state’s SRPs audit. If payment or other discrepancies are found, BLM will ensure proper payment or permit compliance. Where results show that underpayment is the result of inaccurate BLM fee calculations, BLM will not attempt to retroactively collect fees from the permittee. However, steps should be taken immediately to correct how the fees are being calculated so that future fee calculations and collections will be accurate. Overpayments will be returned to the permittee immediately. The BLM will retroactively collect where underpayments result from permittee error; a payment schedule can be negotiated. Timeframe: Field offices should provide their listing of recommended permittee audits no later than May 1, 2006. The listing should be provided in the following format: Name & Address of Permittee Type of Permitted Activity Total Annual Receipts (<$1,000, 1,000-5,000, $5,000) Contact: If you have questions or concerns regarding this IB, contact Chris Miller, at (406) 896-5038. Signed by: Randy D. Heuscher, Acting DSD, Division of Resources Authenticated by: Kathy Iszler, Staff Assistant (MT-924) Distribution: SOMT – 1 AFM, Havre FS – 1 AFM, Glasgow FS – 1 |
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