EMS TRANSMISSION 03/05/2007

Instruction Memorandum No. 2007-072

Expires: 09/30/2008

 

To:             All WO and FO Officials

                  Attention: State CIOs and IRM Advisors

 

From:        Assistant Director, Information Resources Management

 

Subject:     Waiver Requests for FY 2006 IT Cap Overages DD: 3/16/2007       
           

Program Area: IT Investment Management

 

Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) directs all BLM organizations that exceeded their FY 2006 IT Spending Cap to document the reason for the overage through the submission of a formal waiver request. 

 

Policy/Actions: The organizations identified below exceeded their FY 2006 IT Spending Cap and must document the reason for the expenditures on an IT Spending Cap Waiver Form (attachment 1). Waiver Forms should be submitted to Melissa McNichols via e-mail at Melissa_McNichols@blm.gov, by March 16, 2007.

           

 

IT Spending Cap overages were taken from the official IT Expenditures web site at http://web.wo.blm.gov/itcosts/index.htm, the Bureau’s official MIS repository for current IT spending. It is recognized that in some cases the overages may be the result of expenditures being inappropriately coded in MIS or incorrectly accounted for in the IT Expenditures application. If you believe that to be the case in your specific situation, please include the details in your waiver request.

 

Timeframe:  Effective immediately.

 

Budget Impacts: None.

 

Background:  Historically, the Annual Work Plan (AWP) documents the IT Spending Cap set by the BLM Budget Strategy Team. The AWP also directs that expenditures above the IT Cap for the given fiscal year, if exceeded without prior approval by the national Information Technology Investment Board (ITIB), will see a reduction by the overage amount in the following fiscal year. Recurring overages have precipitated a review by the ITIB and Field Committee of the current IT Spending Cap allocation process. This review will include an analysis of what expenses should be included in the IT Spending Cap as well as what appropriate Program Element and Budget Object Class codes are recorded. During the January 2007 ITIB meeting, the Board chose to review all FY 2006 IT Spending Cap overages on a case-by-case basis to validate BLM needs and spending patterns.

Manual/Handbook Sections Affected:  None.

 

Coordination: The development of this policy has been coordinated within WO-500 and the Office of the Deputy Director, Vice Chair and Chair of the ITIB.  

 

Contacts: Questions concerning policy issues identified in this IM should be addressed to Melissa McNichols at (303) 236-1782.

 

 

1 Attachment

       1 - IT Spending Cap Waiver Form (1 p)