United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao_comptroller_general legislative 2016-06-23 U.S. Government Publishing Office 2003-08-06 monographic deposited born digital 44 p. GA 1.13:B-289605.3 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-B-289605-3 P0b002ee18fd4a6ba f:2896053 DGPO 2016-06-23 2016-06-23 GAOREPORTS-B-289605-3 machine generated eng fdlp COMPTROLLERDECISION GAOREPORTS-B-289605-3 B-289605.3 Comptroller General Decision 1. Request that agency reimburse protester for the costs it incurred in pursuing an administrative appeal of the agency's cost comparison decision under Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-76 is denied because such costs are not, as protester argues, part of its proposal preparation costs; administrative appeals costs are tantamount to agency-level protest costs, and GAO's authority to recommend reimbursement of protest costs does not extend to costs incurred by a protester in litigating in another forum. 2. Protester should not be paid costs incurred in filing and pursuing unsuccessful protest issues where those issues are readily severable from a successful protest issue, which rested upon a different set of facts and relied upon unrelated legal theories. 3. Protester claiming reimbursement of the costs of preparing its proposal and the costs of filing and pursuing its protest must submit evidence sufficient to support its claim that those costs were incurred and are reasonable and properly attributable to either proposal preparation or the filing and pursuit of the protest; GAO recommends that costs which are not adequately documented not be reimbursed, and that claimed allowable costs which are aggregated with unallowable costs in a way that does not permit segregation of allowable costs be disallowed in their entirety. 4. Request that Comptroller General recommend that an increase in the cost of living justifies a fee higher than the statutory cap of $150 per hour for attorneys' fees is granted where the protester alleges that the cost of living has increased, as measured by the Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index (CPI), and has presented a reasonable basis upon which the adjustment should be calculated. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-B-289605-3/html/GAOREPORTS-B-289605-3.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-B-289605-3/pdf/GAOREPORTS-B-289605-3.pdf GAO/B-289605.3 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-B-289605-3 Comptroller General Decision GAO/B-289605.3; Sodexho Management, Inc.--Costs, B-289605.3, August 6, 2003; Volume 108 Page 3243 108 Stat. 3243 Public Law 103-355