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Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Tax-exempt status

"NNSA Won’t Rule Out Forcing LANL Manager to File for Tax-Exempt Status"

"In a late Monday email to Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, Burgess affirmed he received his information directly from NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty during a September meeting in Washington, D.C. Gordon-Hagerty’s office believes Triad is required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation to seek any cost savings possible, including 501(c)(3) status, Burgess said."

https://www.exchangemonitor.com/nnsa-wont-rule-forcing-lanl-manager-file-tax-exempt-status/

19 comments:

Anonymous said...


NNSA is the boss and should have the final say. The rumor was that Triad was picked precisely because it was to be non-profit and not pay taxes. Triad is already on a bad footing by saying they will pay taxes, if they go through with this NNSA will not be happy. If they do this than NNSA should yank whatever fee they would be getting.

Anonymous said...

As a resident of Los Alamos County, I can confidently say that nothing good comes from giving LAC extra money. It's like giving money to a heroin addict. Maybe the downtown intersections will get new tattoos, but substantial improvements will be lacking.

Anonymous said...

Well, it's not that NNSA is the boss. There are federal acquisition regulations that apply to every government agency. One of the regulations state that pass-through actions are prohibited, such as NNSA approving the payment of NMGRT as a means of supporting LA county's operations because NNSA cannot provide the funds directly since it is not an allowable cost. The regulations also require a contractor to maximize savings under the contract. So why would NNSA direct Triad to seek for profit status since it is contrary to federal laws, both acquisition and tax. It has been wishful thinking since Triad's selection. Christine Chandler and the stakeholders are advocating that Triad be "declared" a for profit entity because that's what the county and the state of NM wish/demand/need, but in the end, federal law will prevail and Triad will be deemed a non-profit entity. No magic wand here.

Anonymous said...

but in the end, federal law will prevail and Triad will be deemed a non-profit entity. No magic wand here.

October 25, 2018 at 9:39 AM

Naivete. Just watch.

Anonymous said...

The situation just goes to show the stupidity of the law. This week, LANS will pay NMGRT. Next week, the Triad will not. The work will be the same. Nothing will change. Triad will add no additional value to the effort. Triad will not lower the cost to do the effort. And Triad will not do it any quicker.

Anonymous said...

October 25, 2018 at 7:12 PM: yet Triad will do it at a lower cost to the taxpayer if they are GRT-exempt.

Anonymous said...

Doing the same work for less money is usually called increased value. Except to the entitled.

Anonymous said...


Rumors are the town council is going completley nuts over this and are in full panic mode, lots fear and loathing. This was THEIR MONEY and it CANNOT be taken away at this point. They are looking at all sorts of possible legal actions ect in order to get what they want. Some have even said that if they cannot get the GRT than why the hell have this goddam lab in the first place.

It is going to be fun.

Anonymous said...

https://features.propublica.org/los-alamos/chad-walde-nuclear-facility-radiation-cancer/

Lab is responsible for the death of another person, unbelievable, scandal after scandal. So now we have WHL, stolen Mustangs, Fires, Culture of Theft, Firing Whistleblowers, Beating up whistle blowers, Meth for secrets, Lost disks, rude bloggers, blown up building and so on. As for dead people we have Burik, Hook and now this person to add to long history mystery and dysfunction. All this and UC wins again, what is wrong with America?

Anonymous said...

In response to October 28 at 6:52 pm I would point out that there is an election and hopefully half of the entitled members of the town council will be replaced.

Anonymous said...

what is wrong with America?

October 29, 2018 at 2:32 PM

Nothing if you aren't a gullible, naive, conspiracy theorist who has no tolerance for actual truth. All of the "issues" you cite are false, and have been proven so many times. Why are you stuck in this stupid game??

Anonymous said...



My God, LANS is really coming to an end, it is real. No more SUPVUCA, no more McMillan, no more massive bonuses, no more talk about WE FOR PROFIT and what is good for LANS is not necessarily good for the United States, you work for LANS not the United States and LANS is a business and the purpose of a business is to make money.

The question now is that there was a whole swath of managers who bought into this, ra ra, PBI's means more money crap, are these guys going to change their tune and say they never believed that. Some of the bad actors are gone or will be gone soon for sure but there are plenty of others who still on or least never rocked the boat.

Anonymous said...

The question now is that there was a whole swath of managers who bought into this,

October 31, 2018 at 3:41 AM

It's worth keeping in mind that all the former LANL managers that sided with LANS in the competition and then were given LANS management positions, "bought into" what they were told by LANS during the competition process and not what actually later occurred under LANS. I know more than a few who quit once they saw what LANS was actually doing, and some who stuck it out in order to help keep LANL somewhat as it was under UC, if possible. To paint them all with the same broad brush is unfair. Some of them were, and remain, good managers.

Anonymous said...

November 1, 2018 at 5:34 PM

That is a good point, I suppose some could not simply come out and say that they where against LANS. I suspected a few might not onboard with LANS due to their lack public support or their comments that one could read into. With that there was definitely a few who went all in and than some. It was like a few of these people always wanted to be Wallstreet movers and shakers but it did not work out but under LANS they saw their chance. As you could guess some these are now out, but there still seems to be few on the org charts that I have real doubts about.

Anonymous said...

November 1, 2018 at 7:07 PM

I believe you are correct. Perhaps Triad can do some winnowing of the bad actors. One can only hope.

Anonymous said...

What happened to the former senior managers (Zerkle, etc.) who were on McMillan/Wallace team? Are they on an org chart anywhere?

Anonymous said...

" former senior managers (Zerkle, etc.)"

Has the circle been broken?

There are rumors that people like Wallace, Chadwick, Zerkle, ect had been part of other bid teams. I always assumed it would have been Bechtel but who knows.

Wallace certainly did not seem very happy the last month of his tenure so I cannot imagine they have him some great high up super senior powerful scientist position or anything. He is kind of Shakespearean villain, who sold his soul for power, "I would do anything to have the throne, I deserve to be King at any price" and so he was in fact granted his wish...for all of 9 months and was treated like the lame duck that he was, now he is nothing and will not even be remembered as being a lab director. Be careful what you wish for.

Anonymous said...

Wallace was an under-qualified and not very accomplished geologist until he got an upper management position because his (now diseased) mother was an influential NM State legislator. He never had any real respect among LANL scientists as Director. He was known as a somewhat dim and often vindictive manager.

Anonymous said...

Wallace and Zerkle were not on the Bechtel bid. Full stop. Texas maybe but not Bechtel. Wallace Hated Bechtel and was put in place by UC to basically block Bechtel from gaining any position in the bidding process. UC then threw him out with the trash.

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