The International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants (IIBEC) encourages Congress to reserve Federal Building Fund (FBF) revenues to provide funding for the acquisition, construction, maintenance, and protection of public buildings. Additionally, sufficient funding should be appropriated from the FBF to reduce the backlog of deferred projects in order to properly maintain the aging federal building stock.
In 1972, Public Law 92-313 was enacted to provide funding for the acquisition, construction, maintenance, and protection of public buildings, and established the FBF to fund rental space, new construction, major repairs, and improvements, along with the operation and maintenance of the space.
Nevertheless, the model of using funds from rental to pay for operations, condition assessment, repair, and modernization, is widely, and successfully, used in the US real estate sector. Arguments that the revenues collected are not sufficient prove inadequate when appropriated funding levels are compared to agency requests. In testimony to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Commissioner Nina Albert testified that “since 2011, the Congressional practice of annual diverting roughly $980 million away from GSA investments in federal buildings to fund activities at other agencies has cost more money than it saved for GSA.[i]” The Commissioner went on to cite multiple projects that were not funded and cost millions of dollars more in escalated costs when resubmitted the following year.
Additionally, federal managers, like their private sector counterparts, are dealing with a post-covid workforce environment that is changing where and when employees work. Already, several federal properties have been identified that could be designated as surplus and sold. However, limited congressional funding is hampering GSA’s ability to modernize and reconfigure workspaces to consolidate federal workers and ready other properties for sale.[ii]
Rationale
The federal government owns 511 million square feet of office space, costing billions annually to operate and maintain[iii] The building stock is approximately 50 years old[iv] and reaching a stage where significant investments will be necessary to maintain operations and provide a safe environment for the employees and public. Underfunding existing needs and allowing problems to worsen is a costly waste of taxpayer funds and could grow into a life safety issue for workers and the public. For these reasons, Congress should reserve FBF revenues specifically for GSA projects in order to address deferred maintenance, repairs and alterations, and fund future needs.
Approved by the IIBEC Board of Directors on March 5, 2025 Approved by Advocacy Committee on July 30, 2024
[i] https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/4/9/49fcd714-a692-4d1a-bcc5-088a53106e08/3240BAD5A13EFDBB9EE08D86244361D7.09-27-2023-albert-testimony.pdf
[ii] ibid
[iii] https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-23-106200.pdf
[iv] https://www.capitolmarkets.com/budget-and-spending/a-look-at-the-fbf/
