[Decision Concerning BPA Payments to Relocation Services Contractor and to Transferred Employee]

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) requested a decision regarding a transferred employee's claim for reimbursement for costs associated with: (1) the sale of his former residence; and (2) voluntary weekend travel. BPA advised that it reimbursed: (1) its relocation services contractor for costs it incurred in attempts to sell the claimant's residence; (2) the claimant for sales costs he incurred after he rejected the contractor's offer and sold the residence himself; and (3) the claimant for post-transfer weekend travel from various temporary duty stations to his former duty station. GAO held that BPA: (1) properly reimbursed the contractor for its costs, notwithstanding the claimant's rejection of the contractor's offer; (2) improperly reimbursed the claimant for the residence sales costs, since it had already paid the contractor for those services; (3) should refer its questions regarding computation of the claimant's relocation income tax allowance to the Internal Revenue Service; and (4) erroneously reimbursed the claimant for the weekend travel to his former duty station. Accordingly, BPA should collect the overpayments from the claimant and follow the applicable regulations regarding waiver of the erroneous travel payments.