The services should be more thorough in collecting the data used to calculate the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), the government’s chief watchdog agency stated. In a Jan. 25 report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Defense Department did not always collect rental data on the minimum number of rental properties necessary in order to determine housing costs of specific types of residences at certain locations. The agency reported that samples came from only 44 percent of the housing types – at 788 out of 1,806 locations.
“Until DoD develops ways to increase its sample size, it will risk providing housing cost compensation that does not accurately represent the cost of suitable housing for service members,” the report stated.
The Defense Department did follow guidelines for calculating BAH reductions and payments to privatized housing sites as set by Congress in 2019. But the calculations were not “commensurate with the amount of BAH reduction,” the report stated. In those cases, privatized projects received either more or less money than the amount of revenue lost in BAH reductions. GAO attributed the discrepancies to the fact that the legal requirements for calculating BAH and the guidelines set by Congress are different. By law, BAH should be reduced by a set dollar amount. Regulations, however, state that BAH payments to private housing projects should differ by location.
“Until Congress takes steps to ensure congressionally mandated payment calculations are consistent with how BAH reductions are calculated, some privatized housing projects will continue to receive more or less than intended,” the report stated.
GAO recommended that the Defense Department correct the discrepancy and review its sampling methodology, and that Congress consider revising the law to help foster consistency in BAH payments.
