May 1, 2007


                          CBCA 643-RELO


                 In the Matter of DEREK M. SIEGLE


     Derek M. Siegle, Concord, OH, Claimant.

     Karyn R. Jones, Acting Chief, Accounting Section, Finance Division, Federal Bureau
of Investigation, Washington, DC, appearing for Department of Justice.  

PARKER, Board Judge.

     The Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) asks whether it
may pay as a miscellaneous expense tuition payments that were forfeited by Assistant
Special Agent in Charge Derek M. Siegle when he transferred from one duty station to
another.  The answer is no, because the applicable statutes and regulations do not authorize
such a reimbursement.

                            Background

     Special Agent Siegle was transferred from Washington, D.C., to Cleveland, Ohio, in
January 2006.  On his itemized miscellaneous expense voucher, Agent Siegle claimed
forfeited tuition payments in the amount of $1625.  The amount was for payments due on
March 15 and April 15 pursuant to a contract Special Agent Siegle entered into with a
private school attended by his daughter.  Special Agent Siegle's daughter reported to
Cleveland with him on March 20 and did not complete the school year in Washington, D.C.,
but the school would not prorate the tuition.

                            Discussion  

     The miscellaneous expenses allowance (MEA) is for defraying various costs
associated with discontinuing residence at one location and establishing residence at a new
location in connection with a permanent change of station.  41 CFR 302-16.1 (2006).  The
MEA "is related to expenses that are common to living quarters, furnishings, household
appliances, and to other general types of costs inherent in relocation of a place of residence." 
Id. 302-16.2.  Reimbursable expenses include, but are not limited to, costs incurred in
connection with appliances; rugs, draperies and curtains; utilities; medical, dental, and food
locker contracts; private institutional care contracts; and transportation of pets.  Id. 302-16.1.

     Although the Board has never addressed the issue of forfeited tuition payments, the
Comptroller General, one of the Board's predecessors in deciding claims for relocation
expenses by federal employees, had long held that tuition expenses do not come within any
of the categories enumerated in the travel regulations and are not expenses that are common
to living quarters, furnishings, and household appliances.  Jeanette B. Wilbanks, B-162828
(Nov. 16, 1967) (claim for transferred employee's daughter's forfeited tuition denied); see
John A Lund, Jr., B-192741 (Jan. 17, 1979).

     We think the Comptroller General's interpretation of the regulations concerning
miscellaneous expenses, which have remained virtually unchanged during the forty years
since Wilbanks was decided, makes sense, and we will follow it.  Although the list of
reimbursable expenses in 41 CFR 302-16.1 is not intended to be exhaustive, it is instructive,
and not every expense incurred as a result of a transfer is reimbursable.  See Byron P. Franz,
CBCA 644-RELO (Apr. 17, 2007), and cases cited therein.  Forfeited tuition expenses are
not similar to the listed examples of reimbursable expenses.  Nor are they, as the Comptroller
General opined, common to living quarters, furnishings, and household appliances.  The
authors of regulations governing relocation by federal employees have had forty years since
Wilbanks to change the regulations but chose not to do so.  Under the circumstances, we see
no compelling reason to alter the longstanding rule.

                             Decision

     The FBI may not reimburse Special Agent Siegle for his daughter's forfeited tuition
payments.



                                   ________________________
                                   ROBERT W. PARKER
                                   Board Judge