United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2007-05-16 monographic deposited born digital 23 p. GA 1.13:GAO-07-410R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-410R P0b002ee1803818a5 f:d07410r DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-410R machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-410R GAO-07-410R Budget obligations Budget outlays Budgeting Facility construction Financial management Financial statements Funds management Program evaluation Reporting requirements Unexpended budget balances Unobligated budget balances Veterans benefits Policies and procedures Correspondence A69691 The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) holds about 5 percent of the real property owned by the federal government in terms of building floor area, including such facilities as hospitals and office buildings. VA's responsibility for managing its real property includes the construction of its facilities and cemeteries. Because these construction projects can span several years, VA is authorized to carry forward fund balances from year to year in its construction accounts. VA is responsible for keeping track of and managing these balances to ensure that any unexpended balances that remain after construction projects are completed are redirected to other construction project needs within the agency. VA's budgets for new construction exist in two accounts--Major Construction and Minor Construction--which are funded as separate line items within the appropriation. For purposes of this report, we refer to the Major and Minor Construction accounts as VA's construction accounts. Construction projects undertaken to replace existing facility components are funded through the Non-Recurring Maintenance (NRM) portion of the Medical Facilities budget account. For purposes of this report, we refer to the NRM as VA's facility account. Under the Comptroller General's authority to conduct evaluations on his own initiative, and as part of a continued effort to assist Congress in overseeing real property management issues, we examined VA's management of unexpended construction balances. Specifically, we addressed the following question: To what extent does VA have readily available information about unexpended balances in its construction and facility accounts to effectively manage these funds? https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-410R/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-410R.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-410R/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-410R.pdf GAO-07-410R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-410R Correspondence GAO-07-410R; Department of Veterans Affairs' Lack of Timely and Accurate Information on Unexpended Balances Limits Effective Management and Congressional Oversight; Budget obligations Budget outlays Budgeting Facility construction Financial management Financial statements Funds management Program evaluation Reporting requirements Unexpended budget balances Unobligated budget balances Veterans benefits Policies and procedures