United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1996-05-17 monographic deposited born digital 30 p. GA 1.13:RCED-96-90 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-90 P0b002ee1803964b9 f:rc96090 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-90 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-90 RCED-96-90 Concessions contracts Funds management National historic sites National parks Special fund accounts User fees Reimbursements to government Accounting procedures National recreation areas NPS Special Account Tracking System Grand Canyon National Park (AZ) Mesa Verde National Park (CO) Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (St. Louis, MO) Yosemite National Park (CA) Sequoia National Park (CA) Lowell National Historical Park (MA) Yellowstone National Park (WY) Carlsbad National Park (NM) Kings Canyon National Park (CA) Letter Report RCED

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the National Park Service's (NPS) special account funds, focusing on: (1) the sources and amounts of these funds; and (2) whether the expenditures of these funds are consistent with intended purposes.<p/>GAO found that: (1) the value of the eight NPS accounts reviewed totalled $45 million; (2) five of these accounts recovered the costs associated with in-park activities and the other three provided cash and noncash benefits; (3) in 1994, cost-recovery accounts totalled $6.5 million and non-cost-recovery accounts totalled $38.5 million; (4) cost-recovery accounts are funded through living history demonstrations, reimbursements from mess operations, historical property leases, payments for park damages, and special-use fees for funding; (5) non-cost-recovery accounts receive funding from various donations and cooperating associations that operate bookstores on park premises; (6) the associations provide a variety of in-park services related to park themes and construct facilities that support concession services; (7) significant discrepancies exist between NPS and individual park financial data on the amount of funds in special accounts established by concessioners; (8) the actual amount of money in the special fund accounts is several million dollars higher than reported by NPS; (9) NPS attributes some of these discrepancies to inaccurate tracking of concessioners' accounts; and (10) all but one of the expenditures from the special fund accounts were for authorized purposes. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-90/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-90.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-90/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-90.pdf GAO/RCED-96-90 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-90 Letter Report GAO/RCED-96-90; National Park Service: Information on Special Account Funds at Selected Park Units; Concessions contracts Funds management National historic sites National parks Special fund accounts User fees Reimbursements to government Accounting procedures National recreation areas NPS Special Account Tracking System Grand Canyon National Park (AZ) Mesa Verde National Park (CO) Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (St. Louis, MO) Yosemite National Park (CA) Sequoia National Park (CA) Lowell National Historical Park (MA) Yellowstone National Park (WY) Carlsbad National Park (NM) Kings Canyon National Park (CA) Title 16 Section 14b Title 16 Section 19 Title 16 Section 1a Title 16 Section 3a Title 16 Section 3 Title 16 Section 470 Title 16 Section 6 16 U.S.C. 14b 16 U.S.C. 19 16 U.S.C. 1a 16 U.S.C. 3a 16 U.S.C. 3 16 U.S.C. 470 16 U.S.C. 6