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D 03122 High

Federal real property, including facilities and land worth hundreds of billions of dollars, is in poor condition and poorly managed across 30 agencies. Many assets are excess or underutilized and no longer aligned with agency missions. Deteriorating facilities have repair needs estimated in the tens of billions. There is a lack of reliable data and heavy reliance on costly leasing. To address these long-standing problems, comprehensive transformation is needed, including realigning and rationalizing property, addressing repair backlogs, improving data, and reducing leasing. An independent commission may be required to develop a governmentwide strategy to finally solve these complex, persistent issues.

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48 views1 page

D 03122 High

Federal real property, including facilities and land worth hundreds of billions of dollars, is in poor condition and poorly managed across 30 agencies. Many assets are excess or underutilized and no longer aligned with agency missions. Deteriorating facilities have repair needs estimated in the tens of billions. There is a lack of reliable data and heavy reliance on costly leasing. To address these long-standing problems, comprehensive transformation is needed, including realigning and rationalizing property, addressing repair backlogs, improving data, and reducing leasing. An independent commission may be required to develop a governmentwide strategy to finally solve these complex, persistent issues.

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politix
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January 2003

HIGH-RISK SERIES
Federal Real Property
Highlights of a high-risk area discussed in
the GAO report entitled High-Risk Series:
Federal Real Property (GAO-03-122)

• Long-standing problems with Over 30 agencies control hundreds of thousands of real property assets
excess and underutilized real worldwide, including facilities and land, which are worth hundreds of
property, deteriorating billions of dollars. Unfortunately, much of this vast, valuable portfolio
facilities, unreliable real reflects an infrastructure based on the business model and technological
property data, and costly space environment of the 1950s. Many of the assets are no longer effectively
challenges are shared by
several agencies. These
aligned with, or responsive to, agencies’ changing missions and are therefore
factors have multibillion-dollar no longer needed. Further, many assets are in an alarming state of
cost implications and can deterioration; agencies have estimated restoration and repair needs to be in
seriously jeopardize mission the tens of billions of dollars. Compounding these problems are the lack of
accomplishment. reliable governmentwide data for strategic asset management, a heavy
• Federal agencies face many reliance on costly leasing instead of ownership to meet new needs, and the
challenges securing real cost and challenge of protecting these assets against potential terrorism.
property due to the threat of
terrorism. To address these challenges, Congress and the administration have
undertaken several efforts, including Defense Base Realignment and
Closures Commissions, the President’s Commission to Study Capital
Budgeting, and various legislative initiatives. While some of these efforts and
There is a need for a
other work by individual real property-holding agencies have had some
comprehensive and integrated real
property transformation strategy success, much remains to be done governmentwide. Furthermore, despite
that could identify how best to these efforts, the problems have persisted and have been exacerbated by
realign and rationalize federal real competing stakeholder interests in real property decisions; various legal and
property and dispose of unneeded budget-related disincentives to businesslike outcomes; the need for better
assets; address significant real capital planning among agencies; and the lack of a strategic,
property repair and restoration governmentwide focus on real property issues.
needs; develop reliable, useful real
property data; resolve the problem Given the persistence of the problems and related obstacles, we have added
of heavy reliance on costly leasing; federal real property as a new high-risk area. Resolving these problems will
and minimize the impact of require high-level attention and effective leadership by both Congress and
terrorism on real property. the administration. Also, because of the breadth and complexity of the
issues, the long-standing nature of the problems, and the intense debate that
An independent commission or will likely ensue, current structures and processes may not be adequate to
governmentwide task force may be address the problems. Thus, there is a need for a comprehensive, integrated
needed to develop this strategy. If transformation strategy for real property. Realigning the government’s real
resulting actions address the property, taking into account future workplace needs, will be critical to
problems and are effectively
improving the government’s performance and ensuring accountability within
implemented, agencies will be
expected resource limits.
better able to recover asset values,
reduce operating costs, improve
facility conditions, enhance safety
and security, and achieve mission
effectiveness.

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-122.

For additional information about this high-risk


area, click on the link above or contact John
H. Anderson, Jr. at (202) 512-2834 or
AndersonJ@gao.gov.

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