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Financial challenge as fiscal year closes

  • Published
  • By Brandice J. Armstrong
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The end of the fiscal year is just around the corner. And, while Sept. 30 may conjure ideas of stress, anxiety and panic, officials said that won't be the case this year. They're ready.

The 72nd Comptroller Squadron, 72nd Contracting Squadron, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center Financial Management Directorate and OC-ALC Contracting Directorate are working around-the-clock to ensure remaining monies are maximized, and efficiently and appropriately spent.

"We take measures throughout the year to ensure that we're spending at a rate that we're not frantic at the end of the year trying to spend tons and tons of money," said Leslie Carlson, OC-ALC FM's Financial Analysis Division chief. "With our execution and spending plan that we march to all year, we try to use the last two months of the year to clean up."

But, that's not to say the end of the year isn't busy or stressful. Fiscal 2009 dollars expire at midnight Oct. 1 -- five days from now. Whatever money wasn't spent by the Sept. 23 soft closeout date has to be spent before 11:59 p.m. Sept. 30, or it will be lost.

"It's very stressful because money gets dropped on us sometimes late in the afternoon and late in the evening," said Lt. Col. Richard Ward, 72nd Contracting Squadron commander. "There's a finite amount of time to obligate the money or it's gone."

Colonel Ward said so far this year, $191.5 million has spent on contracts for base construction, food services, janitorial and medical services. He estimates that roughly $25 million more will be spent before Oct. 1.

"Very often, we may have to spend $10 million in the last day or two," said Gordon Mohon, 72nd CONS director of Business Operations.

Maj. Ryan Mahoney, 72nd Comptroller Squadron commander, said to further ease the stress, the Air Force had a goal to have the majority of monies, approximately 97 percent, spent by Sept. 23.

"The thought behind it is so we didn't have to do all the marathon legwork on the 30th," he said. "A lot of what we do is driven by the fiscal law. We can't spend it until we actually have it. But if we can certainly anticipate what we're getting then we won't feel like we're spinning our wheels."