Army Housing: Overcharges and Inefficient Use of On-Base Lodging Divert Training Funds
NSIAD-90-241
Published: Sep 28, 1990. Publicly Released: Oct 29, 1990.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the diversion of Army training funds due to overcharges and inefficient use of on-base lodging.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should direct the major commands and the Army Community and Family Support Center to stop diverting transient lodging funds to MWR activities. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD concurred with this recommendation and in June 1991, the Army directed its major commands to separate transient housing and MWR funds.
|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should review the MWR accounts of the major Army commands to: (1) identify accumulated overpayments for transient lodging; (2) recognize each overpayment as a liability to the appropriation account initially charged or its successor; (3) charge the overpayment to the general fund of the U.S. Treasury as a miscellaneous receipt if the appropriation account cannot be identified; and (4) develop and implement a repayment plan. |
Closed – Not Implemented
The Army has completed a review of its transient lodging overcharges. DOD did not agree with the recommendation to return overcharges to the U.S. Treasury or to the originating appropriation. It believes that there are substantive mitigating factors (O&M budget reductions and investment in capital projects for guest houses) that serve to offset the rationale for repayment. This recommendation should be closed in view of GAO's follow-up report (NSIAD-93-188), which updated the amount of overcharges and recommended that Congress direct the Army to reimburse the Treasury for overpayments.
|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should revise Army Regulations 210-11, 215-1, and 215-5 to stipulate that transient lodging funds must be applied only to transient facilities, as required by DOD directives. |
Closed – Implemented
Army Regulation 210-11 was included in a new consolidated housing management regulation, A.R. 210-50, issued in April 1990. The new regulation stipulates that funds generated through service charges will be used only to support transient lodging facilities.
|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should exclude transient lodging funds from the Army's single fund. |
Closed – Implemented
The Army has directed its major commands, in a June 1991 message, to separate transient housing from MWR funds. Effective October 1, 1991, a separate fund was established at each Army installation.
|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should establish controls to monitor Army installations' compliance with DOD and Army regulations that stipulate that lodging charges should not exceed the minimum amount needed to meet authorized costs and planned improvements. |
Closed – Implemented
The Army implemented a Transient Housing Service Charge Monitoring Program in March 1991, which required "look-back" reports to October 1990. All Army installations which operate transient housing are being monitored.
|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should provide more specific guidance to commanders on the types and quality of furnishings appropriate for transient quarters. |
Closed – Implemented
The Assistant Chief of Engineers provided specific guidance to the field on October 9, 1990 concerning the appropriate type, quality, and cost for the acquisition of transient housing furnishings.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should establish controls to monitor the Army's compliance with DOD transient lodging directives. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD stated that it has developed a program evaluation and monitoring system to ensure the military services' compliance with transient lodging regulations. DOD has issued a revised DOD directive requiring the services to submit financial reports to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should establish controls to ensure that installations fully use on-base facilities before authorizing off-base per diem. At a minimum, those controls should include making authorization of off-base per diem contingent upon a vacancy recheck at some specified time before arrival. |
Closed – Implemented
The Army agreed to enforce existing housing reservation policies and, pursuant to new Army Regulation 210-50, will report use of transient lodging facilities.
|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should establish controls to ensure that installations fully use on-base facilities before authorizing off-base per diem. At a minimum, those controls should include revising room assignment procedures to use DVQ. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD agreed with this recommendation and stated that the Army will enforce existing policy that DVQ be occupied by temporary duty travelers when they are not reserved.
|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should establish controls to ensure that installations fully use on-base facilities before authorizing off-base per diem. At a minimum, those controls should include ensuring that personnel moving to new stations do not displace transient personnel in transient lodging. |
Closed – Implemented
The Army has taken a number of actions to ensure that personnel moving to new stations do not displace transient personnel in transient lodging.
|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should establish controls to ensure that installations fully use on-base facilities before authorizing off-base per diem. At a minimum, those controls should include instituting regular reviews at all installations of the accuracy of barracks occupancy rates to ensure the identification of vacancies for transient personnel. |
Closed – Implemented
The Army is regularly reviewing barracks occupancy rates at all installations.
|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should establish controls to ensure that installations fully use on-base facilities before authorizing off-base per diem. At a minimum, those controls should include identifying transient lodging operations as a material weakness in the Secretary of the Army's next annual assurance statement. |
Closed – Implemented
The Secretary of the Army reported transient lodging management as a material weakness in the fiscal year 1990 annual assurance statement.
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Topics
Army facilitiesFacility managementFunds managementInternal controlsMilitary cost controlMilitary housingMilitary trainingOverpaymentsQuestionable paymentsTemporary lodging allowances