BNUMBER:  B-271304
DATE:  March 19, 1996
TITLE:  [Letter]

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B-271304

March 19, 1996

DIGESTS

1.   Even though the operations of the District of Columbia have been 
financed by a series of continuing resolutions, the District's 
quarterly payments to the Police Officers and Fire Fighters Retirement 
Fund, the Teachers Retirement Fund, and the Judges Retirement Fund 
were due as required by section 144(b)(2) of the District of Columbia 
Retirement Reform Act, as amended, D.C. Code Ann.  sec.  1 -724(b)(2) (1981 
ed., 1992 replacement volume).  The District received the requisite 
appropriation since the continuing resolutions (1) appropriate the 
full annual amount for the entire fiscal year regardless of its period 
of duration, (2) are available to the extent and in the manner which 
would be provided by the pertinent appropriation act that has yet to 
be enacted (unless otherwise provided in the continuing resolution, 
and (3) did not contain any language that relieves the District of its 
duty to make the contributions.

2.   Even though the operations of the District of Columbia have been 
financed by a series of continuing resolutions, the District is liable 
to pay one quarter of the amount that the District of Columbia 
Retirement Board certified as being due by the District to the Police 
Officers and Fire Fighters Retirement Fund, the Teachers Retirement 
Fund and the Judges Retirement Fund for fiscal year 1996 under section 
142(a)(4)(B) and (c) of the District of Columbia Retirement Reform 
Act, as amended, D.C. Code  sec.  1-722(a)(4)(B) and (c) (1981 ed., 1992 
replacement volume).  The continuing resolutions have appropriated 
funds that are available for such purpose without limitation, and did 
not alter the amount the District was required to pay quarterly.

B-271304

March 19, 1996

Mr. Anthony Williams
Chief Financial Officer
441 4th St., N.W.
Suite 1150
Washington, D.C.  20002

Dear Mr. Williams: 

By letter dated February 20, 1996, received in this Office on March 5, 
1996, you asked when the District of Columbia's (District) first and 
second quarter contributions to the Police Officers and Fire Fighters 
Retirement Fund, the Teachers Retirement Fund, and the Judges 
Retirement Fund (Retirement Funds) administered by the District of 
Columbia Retirement Board are due and the amount of such 
contributions.  Your inquiry has been prompted by the fact that 
Congress has not yet enacted the District's fiscal year 1996 regular 
appropriations act, and instead has financed District activities 
through a series of continuing resolutions.  As discussed below, the 
first quarter payment was due no later than October 31, 1995 and the 
second quarter payment was due no later than January 1, 1996.  The 
amount of the contribution that is due for each quarter is one quarter 
of the amount that the Board certified for inclusion in the fiscal 
year 1996 budget request.  

Section 142(c) of the D.C. Retirement Reform Act, as amended,[1] 
provides that the Mayor and Council are to include in each annual 
budget submitted to Congress for appropriation not less than the full 
amount certified by the Board as being due from the District for each 
retirement fund.  Section 144(b)(2) of the Retirement Reform Act, as 
amended,[2] provides that amounts appropriated as a District of 
Columbia payment to each retirement fund are to be deposited in the 
appropriate Retirement Fund in equal quarterly installments.  Section 
144(b)(2) further provides that the District shall make the first 
payment not more than (1) 30 days after amounts are appropriated or 
(2) 30 days after the beginning of the fiscal year for which amounts 
are appropriated, whichever is later.  The District shall make 
subsequent installments on the first day of each succeeding quarter of 
the fiscal year.  If the District is late in paying an installment, 
the Board is to charge the District daily interest, at a rate 
consonant with the Board's fiduciary duty.

The resolving clause of each of the continuing resolutions 
appropriating funds to the District makes it clear that they have 
appropriated funds to the District for fiscal year 1996.[3]  The 
temporary nature of the continuing resolution serves to limit the time 
period during which District officials may incur obligations against 
the appropriation.  Provisions in each continuing resolution also 
affect the total amount that is available to the District to obligate 
for fiscal year 1996.  Nevertheless, a continuing resolution 
appropriates the full annual amount regardless of its period of 
duration.  See B-152554, Nov. 4, 1974.  Standard continuing resolution 
language makes it clear that the appropriations are available to the 
extent and in the manner which would be provided by the pertinent 
appropriations act that has yet to be enacted (unless otherwise 
provided in the continuing resolution).[4]  Nothing in the continuing 
resolutions expressly relieves the District of the duty to make the 
contribution to the retirement funds required by section 144(b)(2) of 
the Retirement Reform Act. 

The fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30.[5]  Thus, the 
quarters begin    on October 1, January 1, April 1, and July 1 of each 
fiscal year.  Since Pub. L. No. 104-31 made appropriations to the 
District for fiscal year 1996 on September 30, 1995, the District was 
required by D.C. Code Ann.  sec.  1-724(b)(2) to make the first quarterly 
payment to the Board not later than 30 days after the beginning of 
fiscal year 1996 or October 31.  The second quarter's payment was due 
January 1, 1996.

As noted earlier, the District must include in its budget submission 
the amount the Board certifies as the annual amount owed by the 
District.  Once an appropriation is made, the District makes payments 
based on that amount unless the appropriation act or some other law 
changes the amount of the District's obligation.  The District does 
not normally receive a line item appropriation for its contribution to 
each retirement fund.[6]  Instead, Congress includes the District's 
contribution in lump-sum amounts annually appropriated to the 
District.  To the extent funds are otherwise appropriated to the 
District and available for such purposes, they are available to pay 
the total amount certified as the amount the District owed to each 
fund under section 122(a)(4)(B) and (c) of the Retirement Reform Act.  
Nothing in the continuing resolutions expressly altered the District's 
obligation to make contributions as set forth in the Retirement Reform 
Act.  Thus, the District's liability to contribute the certified 
amount to the retirement funds is not affected by the fact that a 
particular continuing resolution appropriates amounts different from 
those requested by the District for fiscal year 1996 or is available 
for obligation only for part of the fiscal year.  

Sincerely yours,

Robert P. Murphy
General Counsel

1. Pub. L. No. 96-122, 93 Stat. 866 (1979) (D.C. Code Ann.  sec.  1-722 (c) 
(1981 ed. 1992 replacement volume)).

2. D.C. Code Ann.  sec.  1-724(b)(2).

3. Pub. L. No. 104-31, 109 Stat. 278 (Sept. 30, 1995); Pub. L. No. 
104-54, 109 Stat. 540 (Nov. 19, 1995); Pub. L. No. 104-56, 109 Stat. 
548 (Nov. 20, 1995); and Pub. L. No. 104-92, 110 Stat. 16 (Jan. 6, 
1996).  

4. Pub. L. No. 104-31,  sec.  103, 109 Stat. 279 (Sept. 30, 1995); Pub. L. 
No. 104-54,  sec.  103, 109 Stat. 542 (Nov. 19, 1995); Pub. L. No. 104-56,  sec.  
103, 109 Stat. 550 (Nov. 20, 1995); Pub. L. No. 104-92,  sec.  402, 110 
Stat. 22, (Jan. 6, 1996).  

5. D.C. Code Ann.  sec.   47-101 (1981 ed., 1990 replacement volume) and 31 
U.S.C.  sec.  1102 (1994).

6. In contrast, District appropriation acts typically contain a line 
item for the federal contribution to each of the retirement funds.