Golden Fleece Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last month, Rep. French Hill (AR-02) announced the General Services Administration (GSA) as the latest recipient of his Golden Fleece Award. GSA is receiving this award for its failure to efficiently dispose of unneeded federal property. Under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act, GSA has the authority to dispose of surplus federal holdings, yet it has largely failed to do so in a timely manner, wasting millions of dollars to maintain unused buildings across the country.

Rep. Hill said, “I have been trying to have the USFS convey a property to Perry County, Arkansas for years. The long-vacant building would be a big valuable asset for the community, including as a meeting space for 4-H and put to good use for youth programs, agricultural education, and local conservation efforts. This has been an incredibly long, difficult, and frustrating process and one that is completely unnecessary and should not require an Act of Congress. The government not only loses the trust of the local populace when they refuse to sell or convey unused federal properties, they waste millions in taxpayers’ dollars."

In his letter to GSA Administrator, Mr. Ed Frost, Rep. Hill writes:

Dear Administrator Frost,  

I am writing to inform you that the General Services Administration (GSA) is the most recent recipient of my Golden Fleece Award. I am awarding the GSA for its failure to efficiently dispose of surplus federal real property, particularly its inability to convey or sell assets that no longer support the needs and missions of the federal agencies. While I know GSA has recently focused on accelerating unloading unneeded property, which I support, it does not change the fact that the cost to maintain these unused federal buildings costs the American public billions each year and has for years.

Under the Property Act, federal agencies may dispose of property that is no longer needed by a federal agency. Through this process, excess property is first reported as being surplus real property before being offered to other federal agencies for use. Should no federal agency need the surplus property, state and other local governments can obtain the property through a public benefits conveyance, also known as a PBC, through right of first refusal. Under current statute, GSA and the Department of Defense (DoD) are responsible for real property disposal, though, which agency is in control depends on if the property is a former Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) property or non-BRAC property.

Most of the recent attempts to dispose of unneeded property at the federal level involve selling property, however, for some counties, properties are best conveyed under the PBC process often due to lack of appropriate funds for another local or state entity to purchase them. The PBC process is overly complex and underused, leaving unneeded federal property sitting vacant and costing taxpayers’ money.

I have run into this issue within my district. For years, Perry County, Arkansas, has been trying to acquire a U.S. Forest Service building, along with 0.81 acres of Forest Service land it located on. Perry County is a rural area with a population of approximately 10,000 people. Because of the county’s small size, it lacks the necessary funds to purchase the property at market value, as would be directed by law. However, the building has been vacant for some time within Perry County and would serve the county as the Perry County Conservation District, a meeting space for the 4-H Youth Development Program. Additionally, it is where the University of Arkansas Extension Program can provide permanent operations for Perry County.

Though the USFS property in Perry County is eligible for a public benefit conveyance, it has been quicker for me to introduce and work on passing a bill conveying this building to Perry County legislatively than it would have been for the property to be conveyed through the PBC process. This outcome is unacceptable. Local communities like Perry County should not have to wait years to access property that is eligible for transfer and taxpayers should not foot the bill to maintain unused federal assets. Had the PBC process functioned more efficiently, Perry County could already be using the facility to better the county and serve its youth. It should not require an act of Congress to transfer unneeded property or to reduce unnecessary federal spending.

As I have begun the process of legislatively conveying the building in Perry County to the local government, I have also come across some startling and unfortunate information regarding the disposal of real property through GSA. For example, there is no consistent identifiable data on public benefit conveyances (PBC).

Many sponsoring agencies have inconsistent data reporting on the number, types, and locations of properties conveyed, as well as with properties currently being monitored by GSA for potential PBC conveyance. This data is important for a variety of reasons. Not only is it important to ensure that property no longer needed by the federal government is disposed of, but it is also important to ensure that conveyances that have taken place are being used as agreed by grantees, an important element of managing and maintaining the program in the interest of the American people.

I am committed to ensuring effective fiscal practices at our nation’s federal agencies. Should you require any additional authority from Congress to address these concerns, I urge you to notify me as soon as possible. I would also welcome any technical assistance you could provide to Congress to correct statutory issues that may have contributed to this problem. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to working with you to address this important issue.