_______________________________
 
                           November 20, 1997
                    _______________________________
 
 
                            GSBCA 14292-TRAV
 
 
                  In the Matter of ANTONIO G. GONZALEZ
 
 
        Antonio G. Gonzalez, Baltimore, MD, Claimant.
 
        J. Patrick O'Toole, Director, Division of Travel Management,
   Social Security  Administration,  Baltimore,  MD,  appearing  for
   Social Security Administration.
 
   DeGRAFF, Board Judge.
 
         Statutes  and  regulations pertaining  to  reimbursement of
   travel expenses do not provide  that an agency is responsible for
   paying  for an  overdraft charge  assessed by  a bank  against an
   employee.   An agency  may reimburse an  employee only  for those
   expenses  essential to the transaction of  official business.  An
   overdraft  charge imposed  by  a  bank is  not  essential to  the
   transaction of  official business, even  if the lack of  funds in
   the employee s bank account is  caused by the agency s mistake in
   making a deposit.
 
                               Background
 
        In mid-1997, Antonio G. Gonzalez, an  employee of the Social
   Security  Administration   (SSA),  was  completing   a  long-term
   temporary  duty assignment in  Baltimore, Maryland.   SSA permits
   employees who are completing long-term temporary duty assignments
   to have their  salary payments electronically deposited  into one
   account   (the  salary   account),  and   their   travel  expense
   reimbursement  payments  electronically deposited  into  a second
   account  (the travel  account).   Mr. Gonzalez took  advantage of
   this arrangement and, apparently, it worked well until July 1997.
 
        In July 1997, SSA mistakenly deposited Mr. Gonzalez s travel
   payment into his  salary account, instead of his  travel account.
   Mr. Gonzalez drafted checks on his travel account, expecting that
   SSA had deposited his travel  payment into that account.  Because
   SSA  deposited  Mr.  Gonzalez s travel  payment  into  his salary
   account, there  were insufficient funds in his  travel account to
   cover the checks he had written, and his bank charged him $62 for
   writing checks without having sufficient  funds in his account to
   pay the checks.  Mr. Gonzalez submitted a claim to SSA for $62.
 
 
        SSA is  aware, and  has tried to  make its  employees aware,
   that   there   are   problems  associated   with   having   funds
   electronically  deposited  into  two accounts.    Banks  can make
   mistakes  in handling  the payments,  information  used to  route
   payments can be  unclear, and SSA can make  mistakes in directing
   the  payments to  the  appropriate  accounts.    SSA s  automated
   payment system  is not  designed to allow  it to  make electronic
   deposits into two accounts, and when an employee asks SSA to make
   an  electronic deposit into an account  other than the employee s
   salary account, SSA  must accomplish this manually.   Apparently,
   in  Mr.  Gonzalez s case,  an  SSA  employee  made a  mistake  in
   manually directing a payment to  his travel account.  While SSA s
   view is  that each employee  is responsible for making  sure that
   there  are adequate funds in an account before writing a check on
   the account,  SSA has  written letters  to  banks explaining  its
   mistakes.   SSA is willing  to write  a letter to  Mr. Gonzalez s
   bank and to explain how the error occurred in his case. 
 
        SSA denied Mr. Gonzalez s claim  because it was not aware of
   any authority that  would allow it to reimburse  Mr. Gonzalez for
   the  $62 charge  imposed by his  bank.   Mr. Gonzalez asks  us to
   review SSA s decision.  
 
                               Discussion
 
        On several  occasions, the  General Accounting Office  (GAO)
   considered whether an agency could reimburse military members and
   civilian  employees for overdraft  charges imposed by  banks when
   agencies  mistakenly failed to  deposit salary payments  into the
   accounts designated by  the members or employees.   In each case,
   GAO concluded that there was no authority to use Government funds
   to pay such charges.  Rhonda M. Tiller, B-228632 (Mar. 10, 1988);
   Robert  G.   Raske,  60  Comp.   Gen.  450  (1981);   William  B.
   Uppinghouse,  B-187245 (Oct. 7, 1976); Jeffrey Allen Rossmann, B-
   173783 (Mar.  2, 1976).   Because the claims that  GAO considered
   involved  salary payments, and not travel  payments, we looked to
   see whether there is any authority that would permit an agency to
   reimburse  an employee  for an  overdraft charge  when  an agency
   misdirects a travel payment.  
 
        We have been unable to  find any authority that would permit
   SSA  to pay  Mr.  Gonzalez s  claim.   No  statute or  regulation
   pertaining to reimbursement  of travel expenses provides  that an
   agency is responsible for an  overdraft charge assessed by a bank
   against an  employee.  Travel  expenses which will  be reimbursed
   are limited  to those  expenses essential to  the transaction  of
   official  business, 41 CFR  301-1.3(b) (1996), and  the overdraft
   charge  incurred  by  Mr.  Gonzalez  was  not  essential  to  the
   transaction  of any  official business.    Mr. Gonzalez  incurred
   charges because he  wrote checks without having  sufficient funds
   in his personal bank account  to cover those checks.  Maintaining
   a  personal  bank account  is  the  employee's obligation.    SSA
   correctly determined that there is no  authority for using public
   funds to reimburse Mr. Gonzalez. 
 
 
        The claim is  denied.  SSA is  willing to write a  letter to
   Mr. Gonzalez s bank to  explain how the error  occurred.  Perhaps
   this will enable Mr. Gonzalez to recoup his $62.
                  
                     
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                                      MARTHA H. DeGRAFF
                                      Board Judge