Summary: The Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies, Committee on Appropriations, and the Ranking Minority Member, House Subcommittee on Legislative, Committee on Appropriations, requested that we review the Library's Special Events Gift Fund. As agreed, we focused on the Library's analysis supporting its June 2000 decision to increase suggested room contributions associated with the Great Hall effective January 2001, and key policies, procedures, and controls associated with holding the approximately 120 fiscal year 2001 special events that were accounted for in the Gift Fund. Specifically, we agreed to (1) review and comment on the analysis behind the Library's January 2001 increase in the suggested room contributions from outside sponsors of events held in the Great Hall of the Jefferson Building; (2) identify key policies and procedures applicable to requesting, approving, and planning those special events accounted for through the Gift Fund and determine whether the Library is following those policies and procedures; and (3) identify key accounting and control policies and procedures over receipts, expenditures, and the fund balance of the Gift Fund and determine whether the Library is following those policies and procedures.
The January 2001 increase in the suggested room contributions from outside-sponsored Great Hall events was based on the Library's decision to fund the projected salary and benefit costs of its special events support staff with contributions from outside sponsors of those events while trying to limit the number of such events in response to concerns about the wear and tear on the Great Hall. To identify the level of contributions needed to fund the forecast salary and benefit costs of special events support staff over a 5-year period, in May 2000, the Library analyzed alternative combinations of contribution levels and numbers of outside-sponsored Great Hall events. In performing the analysis, the Library did not take into account alternatives for funding the forecast salary and benefit costs other than suggested room contributions and sponsorship for Great Hall events. According to Library officials, at the time of the analysis, demand for use of the Great Hall had been increasing. However, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks and the anthrax incidents on Capitol Hill, the Library received less in suggested room contributions from outside sponsors and cosponsors of Great Hall events for 2001 than it had projected in its the analysis. Specifically, the Library reported 3 fewer (13 instead of 16) total events than projected for 2001: 4 fewer (5 instead of 9) for-profit sponsored events and one additional non-profit event. The types of special event activities that can be held at the Library are governed by Library regulations, which also establish policies and procedures that guide the processes through which events are requested, approved, planned, and held. Library procedures provide for documenting the implementation of these policies and procedures, and OSEPP establishes what it refers to as event files to maintain this documentation. We examined files for 93 events that, according to Library officials, involved Gift Fund receipts, disbursements, or both, and we found that, at the time of our review, key supporting documentation was missing from 73 of those event files. Among the missing items were letters requesting approval to hold events, direct evidence of the Library's approval for events, key agreements required for the use of the facilities, and certificates of tax status for nonprofit sponsors. In four cases, OSEPP had difficulty finding entire files, which according to OSEPP staff had been misplaced following an office move. However, based on additional inquiries and procedures, we were able to conclude that the Library had generally followed its policies and procedures for requesting, approving, and planning these special events. In addition to event-related policies and procedures, OSEPP has established accounting and internal control-related policies and procedures for Gift Fund receipts and expenditures. While Library records showed that these policies and procedures were generally followed, we found that the policies and procedures were not sufficient to achieve full accountability over Gift Fund transactions and funds. Specifically, OSEPP lacked basic financial management records for events involving the Gift Fund, such as schedules of receipts and expenditures approved by OSEPP, and thus did not have a basis for reconciling approved receipts and expenditures to the receipts and expenditures recorded in the Library's financial management system (FMS) for the Gift Fund. We found errors that could have been identified by Library staff if the basic financial records for events had been maintained and reconciled to the Library's financial management system. Also, OSEPP did not have a policy or related controls to ensure that final accountings for events were performed within an established time period. We found that for the files we reviewed, final accountings were performed on average about 5 months after their respective events, with some final accountings occurring roughly a year or more after the event.
