Congressional Testimony
FY 2001 Capital Investment Leasing Program
COMMISSIONER PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE MARCH 21, 2000
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, my name is BACKGROUND Our funding comes principally - in fiscal year 2000 it is coming exclusively - from the rents that we charge to the more than 100 Federal agencies. The rent revenues, expected to amount to approximately $5.5 billion in fiscal year 2000, are deposited into the Federal Buildings Fund (FBF) and are used to operate the government's buildings, pay rent to the private sector for our leased space, provide security, and fund our administrative costs. More than 90 percent of the $5.5 billion we plan to spend in fiscal year 2000 will be paid out in the form of contracts with the private sector. More than half of the FY 2000 expenditures, $3 billion, will go toward lease payments in private buildings. Since the Oklahoma City bombing, we have doubled our rate of spending on building security, doubled the size of our uniformed force, and improved our security organization to upgrade its capabilities and focus it on the violent threats we face. Improved Performance through Businesslike Measures In business, they say you get what you measure and we have found that, too. Since we began our "Linking Budget to Performance" program, we have had the following results: ? have reduced the non-revenue producing space in our total inventory from 13 percent to 10 percent in just the last fiscal year. ?r operating costs per square foot in government-owned space are approximately 13 percent below the private industry average; in the past three years, our cleaning costs per square foot have actually gone down, while the private industry average has gone up. ?e average rents we have paid in our leased buildings across the country have been at or below the average rate that private sector tenants pay, with a cost avoidance to the government in the tens of millions of dollars. ?e average time it takes us to negotiate new leases for client agencies is down from 244 days in 1996 to 152 days in 1999, a decrease of 38 percent. ?r energy consumption was reduced 17.3 percent from 1985 to 1999. Our goal is to further reduce this another 2.7 percent by the end of fiscal year 2000 and an additional 10 percent by the end of fiscal year 2005. ?r customer satisfaction scores, measured in hundreds of buildings by the Gallup organization, have improved steadily from 74 percent in 1993 to 80 percent in 1998. Our long-term customer satisfaction goal is 85 percent. Improving the Public Quality of Public Buildings ? are designing and constructing landmark public buildings that are efficient and dignified, sources of community pride, and positive government investments in their localities. ?r urban livability program has improved the way we integrate our site and design decisions with local planning and development needs. We are making public building plazas centers of downtown activity, in the tradition of the American courthouse square. ? have kicked off a First Impressions program to redesign the entry and lobby areas of our Federal buildings, making them more welcoming and functional as well as secure for the public and employees. THE CAPITAL INVESTMENT AND LEASING PROGRAM The highlights of the program include: Projects Funded from the FBF ? prospectus-level repair and alteration projects budgeted at $349,278,000; ? prospectus-level repair and alteration designs for future projects at $21,915,000; ? ongoing chlorofluorocarbon reduction and energy-saving programs budgeted at $10,000,000 and $20,000,000, respectively; and ?glass fragmentation program budgeted at $30,000,000. Projects Funded from a Direct Appropriation to the FBF ?new courthouse construction projects totaling a budget request of $488,464,000. Capital Planning ?oject timing and execution; ?ysical urgency based on building conditions; ?stomer urgency; and ?storic preservation and community considerations. Repair and Alteration Program To help allocate the limited resources of the FBF for repair and alteration projects, we use a Return on Investment (ROI) methodology--in addition to the criteria highlighted above. ROI determines if a project adds or detracts from the net income the building contributes to the FBF after project completion. Simply stated, if we invest dollars in a building, we want to make sure that the investment will bring increased revenues. Using a ROI approach in evaluating projects assists our efforts in strengthening the long-term fiscal health of the FBF. New Construction and Acquisition Through a direct appropriation, we are requesting funding and authority for 7 courthouse projects across the nation, the FDA consolidation in Montgomery County, MD, and the ATF Headquarters project in Washington, DC. You will also notice a request for your Committee to authorize the Suitland, MD, NOAA project. Design funds for this urgently needed facility, which will house some of the nation's most important weather satellite technology, was provided in the Department of Commerce's fiscal year 2000 appropriation. Our request for authorization, along with an advance appropriation requested in the Fiscal Year 2001 President's Budget, will allow GSA to proceed expeditiously with the design and construction of this important facility. Our fiscal year 2001 budget request also includes advance appropriations in fiscal years 2002, 2003, and 2004, which will complete funding of the FDA consolidation in Montgomery County, MD. As you know, this is the first year the Administration has requested a courthouse program since 1997. The fiscal year 2001 funding request for new courthouse construction reflects the Administration's view that courtroom sharing is a cost effective means for providing the space needed by the courts. This has resulted in the elimination of 22 courtrooms in the 7 new courthouse projects proposed in the budget. Although some redesign will be required, GSA's fiscal year 2001 budget request was reduced by approximately $25 million as a result. Our projections indicate that the expenditure of almost $33 million will be avoided in future years as these projects move from the design phase into construction. Additional significant cost savings of approximately $85 million will result, for instance, from the construction of a companion courthouse to the Roybal Building in Los Angeles, as opposed to a new stand-alone courthouse. The following table summarizes the status of the courthouse construction program: Project Stage Number of Projects Completed 25 9 completed in 1999 TOTAL PROJECTS 62 *Albany, GA; Central Islip, NY; Hammond, IN; Las Vegas, NV; Montgomery, AL; Omaha, NE; Phoenix, AZ; St. Louis, MO; Tucson, AZ **The Seattle, WA, Courthouse project is an example where GSA is in the site acquisition and design process. GSA will not proceed with construction until such funding and authorization are obtained. The 25 projects that have already been completed provide 244 courtrooms for the Judiciary's use. The 9 projects that will be completed this fiscal year will add 123 courtrooms to the inventory. The remainder of the new courthouse construction program is projected to cost approximately $4.5 billion. This amount includes construction funding for the 16 projects that have received only partial funding and also includes full funding for the 97 projects that have received no funding to date. Leasing Program By managing ourselves in a more business-like manner, we are working to control the growth of our leased inventory. As mentioned previously, one of our performance measures is the amount of vacant space in our inventory. We focus on reducing vacancy in both owned and leased space by renovating and backfilling vacant-owned space, realigning space assignments to consolidate vacant space, and where possible, buying out leases and moving tenants from leased to vacant-available space in Government-owned buildings. We believe our efforts have been successful. The proposed $721.2 million repair and alteration program, for instance, will allow us to backfill more than 1.1 million square feet of vacant space in our owned inventory, which in many cases involves moving client agencies back into government-owned buildings from leased space. Conclusion While the FBF can support maintaining our existing inventory and a modest new construction program to fund border station needs and specialized law enforcement needs, such as the occasional FBI building, it cannot support a large-scale new construction program, such as that needed by the U.S. courts. This is evidenced by the $3 billion Congress has appropriated to the FBF between fiscal years 1990 - 2000. To propose a large new construction program as we have this year, it is necessary for us to ask for an appropriation to the FBF. We have found, however, that our business-like approach has helped us maximize the net income from our portfolio, and in turn, invest more in our existing inventory. The higher our net income, the higher the number of prospectus-level repair and alteration projects we are able to submit to Congress. A higher net income also allows us to fund more new construction projects within the FBF, which is evidenced by the $102,194,000 we submitted in the fiscal year 2000 budget and the $107,085,000 we are proposing for fiscal year 2001. Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the founding of the General Services Administration. We were created as an outgrowth of the Hoover Commission in 1949. Over the past year we have been evaluating the impact that additional asset management tools would have on the Government's management of real estate. We are working closely with the Administration, and hope in the near future to submit a proposal that Congress agrees will allow us to operate our real property inventory even more effectively. Finally, we are also evaluating the need to increase the prospectus threshold above the FY 2001 level of $1.99 million. We believe a higher threshold would enable us to meet agencies' Mr. Chairman, this concludes my formal statement. I would be glad to answer any questions that you may have about our proposed Fiscal Year 2001 Capital Investment and Leasing Program, or any other aspects of the public buildings program. Index of Congressional Testimony
Last Reviewed 9/30/2008
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