Air Force Claim for GSA Reimbursement of Property Maintenance Costs

A dispute between the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Air Force over reimbursement of expenses incurred for the protection and maintenance of two parcels of federal excess real property was submitted to GAO for adjudication. GSA is responsible for the cost to agencies of maintaining excess real property, beginning one year after it becomes excess. GSA contends that it is liable to reimburse only the amount which it offered to pay and contends it lacks funds to pay more. The Air Force withheld Standard Level User Charge payment owed to GSA in order to collect unrelated debt. GSA has not denied its liability to the Air Force, nor has it questioned the amount which the Air Force spent. It only disputes the amount which it is obligated to reimburse. The Air Force has interpreted the regulations to require reimbursement of actual protection and maintenance costs which it expended. Air Force funds were available for the purpose for which they were expended, thus reimbursement of the Air Force by GSA is not required in order to prevent an improper expenditure. GAO determined that GSA cannot avoid its self-imposed responsibility to care for government property by pleading insufficient funding, nor can GSA negate the effect of its regulations by failing to budget or obligate sufficient funds to carry out its responsibilities. However, GAO sees no useful purpose to be served by requiring that GSA seek a deficiency appropriation merely to reimburse another government agency in an intra-governmental transaction. GAO has no objection to the GSA practice of establishing ceilings on reimbursable costs when the holding agency agrees to the proposed amount. Where no agreement is adopted, GSA should budget for and reimburse the actual cost of services required by the regulations. GSA can amend its regulations to make holding agencies responsible for these costs, so that they can budget for them. The Air Force should remit the balance owed GSA for Standard Level User Charge fees, as interagency claims are not to be collected by offset.