DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATIVE OPERATIONS FUND Pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 1701 (c)(3), the Secretary is authorized to consolidate all operating expense funds into a single account. This consolidated account, the Administrative Operations Fund, permits substantial simplification of operations extending throughout all of the various organizations of the Department. Use of the Administrative Operations Fund makes it unnecessary to maintain for each organization a separate set of personnel, budget, and accounting records for each of the numerous source funds from which operating expenses of the Department are financed. This permits greater economy and efficiency in the management of the Department's budgetary resources, and permits greater simplification in personnel, payroll, management, and accounting procedures. Accordingly, in this section of the Justifications, the explanations are in terms of Departmentwide obligations for operating expenses. Other sections of the Justifications contain more elaboration of the activities financed by the numerous source funds contributing to the Administrative Operations Fund and focus in more detail on the operational responsibilities of each Assistant Secretary or official. This section of the Justifications includes: --Summary tables on all financing for staffing and related expenses --A summary explanation of fiscal year 1975 proposed increases and --An explanation of personal services obligations, including a sum- --Explanations for all other objects of expense. In total Department terms, the estimates are primarily characterized by a continuing decrease due to lower levels of employment in the housing production and community development programs, offset by pay increases and new space rental requirements. a During 1973 and 1974, these amounts were appropriated under the heading Disaster assistance functions assigned to Office of Emergency Preparedness d/ Funds for New Communities staff were appropriated under "Salaries and Expenses, Community Planning and Management," in 1973 and 1974. e Adjusted for comparability with current organization structure. The following table shows obligations incurred on a comparable basis under each principal official or activity of the Department. Administrative Operations Fund The following tabulation summarizes the major factors of increase and decrease for the Department. Increased pay rates are estimated to cost an additional $15,839 thousand in 1974 and an additional $3,638 thousand in 1975. Supplemental estimates totalling $8,607 thousand are requested in 1974, as shown in the summary of fund sources. The remainder of the 1974 costs can be absorbed within current fund availabilities. Fiscal year 1975 pay increase amounts are included within the individual appropriation and other source fund amounts shown in the summary of fund sources. The 1975 increase of $18,320 thousand for space rental is due to the effect of a new law, the Public Buildings Amendments of 1972 (P.L. 92-313). Under this law each Department is required, for the first time, to pay rental costs to GSA for all building space which it occupies. Reimbursable disaster activities increased sharply during fiscal year 1973, due to heavy flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes and a variety of other disasters across the Nation. Barring further disasters of this magnitude, reimbursable disaster costs are expected to decline in fiscal years 1974 and 1975. The closing down of previous and existing disaster operations is expected to result in a decrease of $8,252 thousand in 1974, and a further decrease of $9,433 thousand in 1975. Administrative Operations Fund The Department's staff level is estimated to decline in both 1974 and 1975, aside from declining disaster employment. This is estimated to result in a reduction of $9,723 thousand in 1974, and a further reduction of $4,382 thousand in 1975. Increased automation, particularly in field data operations and communications, is estimated to cost an additional $4,086 thousand in 1974 and $4,363 thousand in 1975. Within-grade increases are estimated to cost $4,332 thousand in 1974 and $4,244 thousand in 1975. Increased payments to General Services Administration and to Postal Service for mandatory costs of the Federal Telecommunications System and for penalty mail require increases as follows: Fiscal year 1975 has 261 workdays and holidays for which salaries must be paid, compared to 260 days in 1973 and 1974. The cost of this additional day's pay in 1975 is estimated to be $1,084 thousand. Special contracts are estimated to decrease $468 thousand in 1974 and to increase $880 thousand in 1975. The increase in fiscal year 1975 is due, primarily, to anticipated first year costs of implementing a new operating subsidy allocation system for public housing. Special contracts are listed in detail later in this section of the Justification. Miscellaneous increases and decreases are of a wide variety, including changes in travel, supplies, equipment, required payments to Bureau of Employees Compensation, printing, etc. It should be especially noted that these estimates have been based on employment and other factors as they were developed for the President's 1975 Budget which was submitted to the Congress on February 4, 1974. During the remainder of the fiscal year 1974 and during the course of fiscal 1975, unbudgeted requirements often arise which have to be met within whatever operating expenses are available to the Department. A recent example of this is Public Law 93-246 of January 31, 1974, which authorizes increases in the Government's contributions to Federal employees' health insurance premium payments from the previous 40 percent up to a 50 percent current rate and reaching a level of 60 percent by January 1975. It is estimated that the resulting unbudgeted requirement will amount to $1,029 thousand in fiscal year 1975. |