Federal Buildings Funding Limitations and Their Implications (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
March 21, 2008 |
| Report Number |
RL33774 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Stephanie Smith, Government and Finance Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The General Services Administration (GSA), through its Public Buildings Service (PBS), is the primary federal real property and asset management agency, with a portfolio consisting of 8,847 buildings and structures with an estimated replacement value of $68.8 billion in FY2006. GSA is also responsible for completing needed repairs and renovations to the federal facilities it manages. Congress enacted the Public Buildings Act Amendments in 1972, and established the Federal Buildings Fund (FBF) within GSA to finance the operating and capital costs associated with federal facilities. Created as a revolving fund, the FBF is financed by income from rental charges assessed to tenant agencies occupying GSA-owned-and-leased space that approximate commercial rates for comparable space and services. While these deposits to the FBF are the principal source of funding, Congress annually prescribes how GSA may allocate its FBF assets as new obligational authority in appropriations funding. Congress also may appropriate additional monies into the fund. Generally, FBF revenues are used first for GSA's building operating expenses. Congress then allocates FBF funds for new construction, repairs, and renovations.
The 92nd Congress established the Federal Buildings Fund with the objective that income derived from agency rental assessments would provide a more predictable source of revenue for new construction and capital improvements than direct congressional appropriations. However, the FBF did not generate sufficient revenues for capital expenditures due, in large part, to statutory obligations and limitations placed on the FBF when it was created. After meeting its primary obligation to finance building operating expenses, the FBF has historically not produced sufficient revenues to fund needed repairs in GSA's real property inventory. Because of long-standing problems with a buildings portfolio that has not been financially self-sustaining, GSA has relied on leasing as the only practicable method available to meet increased space needs.
Capital reinvestment is one of the largest challenges confronting GSA officials, who have described their buildings inventory as predominantly aging, with maintenance and repair needs that far exceed available FBF revenues. Legislation enacted in the 108th Congress authorized the GSA Administrator to convey real property by sale, lease, exchange, or buyback agreements, with net proceeds deposited into the FBF for future real property capital acquisitions and improvements. The FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed into law on December 26, 2007, authorizes that an additional amount of $84 million be deposited in the Federal Buildings Fund. The President's FY2009 budget requests that $525 million be deposited in the FBF.
This report was originally written by Stephanie Smith, who has retired from CRS, and will not be updated.
