Historical Reconciliation workshop > Questions & Answers

Questions & Answers to Historical Reconciliation Workshop 

January 10, 2013

Q1. When will the historical reconciliations be considered complete?

A1. The historical reconciliations are completed in a three step process:

A. (Step 1) - The Bureau of Reclamation, Financial Management Division and area offices

complete an internal reconciliation of charges, payments and deliveries for each 

individual contractor.

B. (Step 2) – Each contractors reviews the reconciliation package and submits its 

concurrence form. 

C. (step 3) - Reclamation will review the concurrence forms to determine if there is a water 

delivery and cost allocation adjustment required for that specific cost pool.

Q2. What does CY mean? 

A2. CY is an acronym for the contractor’s “Contract Year”. 

Q3. If another contractor’s deliveries change, how will it affect my allocation of costs?

A3. An adjustment to an individual contractor’s deliveries will impact the cost allocation for all 

contractors. A summary of all the required adjustments to contractor’s deliveries will be identified 

after reconciliations are complete. Contractors will have an opportunity to comment on

Reclamation’s recommendation on how adjustments will be handled.

Q4. How does the historical reconciliation account for payments sent to Reclamation in the current

contract year for charges from a previous contract year?

A4. a) All payments submitted in the current year for a previous year are applied to the appropriate 

year and considered in the reconciliation process. 

b) Contractor payment recaps (or the “daily abstract of remittance” for the older years) are

 reviewed to ensure that payments are applied to the period for which the contractor is

 paying.

 c) When necessary, a contractor is contacted to ensure the accurate application of payments.

Q5. Is there an adjustment to surcharges when water deliveries are adjusted in the historical

 reconciliation process? 
A5. Yes. The Central Valley Project Improvement Act charges will be adjusted when water deliveries

 are adjusted.

Q6. How do we settle the reconciliation adjustments for take or pay contracts?

A6. Reconciliations will be settled under the contract terms.

Q7. Question: How will you resolve a difference between a contractor’s accounting records and

 Reclamation’s records?

 

A7. We will use the independent data source that is currently used by the area offices to monitor water

 deliveries. If this source is not available, the decision will be based upon the most reliable

 information that can be provided by either party.

Q8. If there is a shortfall, which service gets credit first?

A8. The application of the credit will be based upon the application of revenues in the irrigation and

 Municipal and Industrial ratesetting policies for the adjustment period.

COMMENTS:

The following comments were made by those who were in attendance at the workshop.

1. There were many years during the reconciliation period that contractors did not respond to 

Reclamation’s request for verification of delivery information to be used in the annual 

contractor accounting process. Therefore, the potential that (during the review of the historical 

reconciliation information) some contractors may find discrepancies in their records and may 

request Reclamation to adjust delivery information.

2. In the early years, payments were remitted without specific water delivery information, which

is now included on payment recaps. There is concern how payments will be applied to the 

appropriate charges for the appropriate period.

The following comments are provided by Reclamation:

1. A second workshop for an overview of the historical reconciliation process will be considered if 

there is sufficient interest from contractors.

2. An extension has been provided for contractors to review of the historical reconciliation 

information. Initially, contractors were asked to provide concurrence or non-concurrence with 

the historical reconciliation within 90 days of receiving the information. This timeframe has 

been extended to June 30, 2013 for all contractors. A formal letter will be sent to all contractors 
to provide notification of this extension and to provide further information for how to submit 

concurrence or non-concurrence.