The Need for Employee Housing Is Not Fully Justified

In 1993, we reported that the Park Service had not fully justified the need for all of its employee housing. As a result, and in response to the requirements of the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996, the agency is in the process of issuing a contract to provide an assessment of housing needs within the Park Service. Once this contracted assessment is completed, the agency should have a more consistent and objective assessment of its housing needs. In 1993, we reported that the Park Service estimated the backlog to be about $546 million—however, at that time, the agency was not able to provide support for this figure. Today, the agency estimates that its housing backlog is about $300 million. However, a Park Service housing official acknowledged that this estimate is not based on a park-by-park review of the condition of housing facilities but rather a gross estimate based on the total number of houses whose condition has been rated less than good. The contractor is scheduled to complete its work in 2002—9 years after we raised this problem in our 1993 report. However, while the policy has changed, it has not yet been implemented by park managers. The significance of the broad discretion given to individual park managers is that the potential exists for housing decisions to be made that may not be in the best interest of the agency. Also, the Park Service’s housing inventory contains proportionately more houses, multiplex units, and apartments and fewer dormitories and cabins than the other two agencies. Compared with the Forest Service and BLM, the Park Service mission emphasizes providing more in-park visitor services such as law enforcement, search and rescue and other supporting activities. As such, the Park Service believes that it needs to provide a larger number of its employees with in-park housing. In comparison, the Forest Service had 50,877 employees and 4,402 housing units or about one unit for every 11 employees. BLM had 11,861 employees and 206 housing units or about one unit for every 58 employees. For example, in 1993, we reported that the Park Service estimated a backlog of $546 million for repairs, rehabilitation, and replacement of its housing inventory; whereas the Forest Service, having about the same number of units but a different mix, had a backlog of less than a third of the Park Service.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO discussed its past work on National Park Service (NPS) employee housing issues.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) NPS has not clearly justified the need for all of its employee housing units; (2) the agency requires parks to perform needs assessments to justify its housing; (3) however, these assessments may not be in-depth, objective, nor performed consistently from park to park; (4) in response to the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996, the agency is beginning to assess the need for its housing units; however, this process is not scheduled to be completed until 2002--9 years after GAO recommended such assessments; (5) NPS has not been able to provide detailed support for its backlog for repairing and replacing its housing inventory; (6) in 1993, GAO reported that the agency estimated its housing backlog at $546 million; however, NPS could not support this figure; (7) today, the agency estimates its housing backlog to be about $300 million; however, NPS acknowledges that this figure is not based on a detailed assessment of its housing repair and maintenance needs but rather a gross estimate based on the total number of houses whose conditions have been rated less than good; (8) individual park managers have broad discretion in implementing park housing policy, resulting in inconsistencies in how the program is managed across the agency and raising questions about whether housing decisions are being made in the best interest of the agency; (9) other federal land management agencies such as the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) do not provide the same level of housing to their employees; (10) because its mission emphasizes providing more in-park visitor services than the other agencies, NPS believes that it needs to provide a larger number of its employees with in-park housing; (11) for example, in 1994 GAO reported that NPS had one unit for every 5 employees, while the Forest Service had one unit for every 11 employees and the BLM had one unit for every 58 employees; (12) when compared with the other agencies, the NPS mix of housing units has relatively more houses, multiplex units, and apartments and relatively fewer dormitories and cabins, and because of this, the NPS housing inventory is more costly to maintain.