Of the $36.2 million, about $33 million was federal appropriations provided to the Authority specifically for management reform.Table 1 shows the total funds provided to the District for management reform for fiscal years 1998 through 2000, the amounts reported as obligated, estimated savings from those initiatives, and reported savings from those initiatives. Fiscal Year 1998 Projects

The status of the funds appropriated for the management reform projects initially identified in fiscal year 1998 and the disposition of those projects is as follows:
The District reported in its Final Fiscal Year 1998 Management Reform Summary of Operating and Capital Funds, as of September 30, 1998, that of the $292.8 million budgeted for management reform, approximately $126.9 million had been spent and about $165.9 million was available at the end of fiscal year 1998. Fiscal Year 1999 Projects

District officials told us that the new administration of Mayor Williams inherited approximately 200 projects in various stages of completion. As of June 1, 2000, of the $10 million expected in savings, District officials reported that about 15 percent, or $1.5 million, had been realized. Conclusion

Since fiscal year 1998, the District Government has budgeted over $300 million to implement management reform initiatives or projects. To date, only $1.5 million of management reform savings have been documented. Additional savings might have been realized, but the Authority and District officials had not systematically assessed project results and savings. In addition, they did not adequately track the costs of these projects and, as a result, sufficient information is not available to show how these funds were spent.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the District of Columbia's management reform initiatives.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) over the past 3 fiscal years, the District government has proposed hundreds of management reform initiatives that were estimated to save millions of dollars as well as improve government services; (2) however, as of June 1, 2000, the District had only reported savings of about $1.5 million related to these initiatives and had not consistently tracked the status of these projects; (3) neither the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility a nd Management Assistance Authority nor the District could provide adequate details on the goals achieved for all of the projects that had been reported as completed or in various stages of completion; (4) the District does not have a systematic process to monitor these management reform projects and determine where savings or customer service improvements have been realized; and (5) the District cannot say for certain how funds designated for management reform have been spent or whether the key goals of these initiatives have been realized.