Postal management agreed with a recommendation regarding improving the accuracy of data on potentially excess workspace, but disagreements over other recommendations remain to be resolved between the USPS and the IG. Image: Jillian Cain Photography/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffAn inspector general report has called on the Postal Service to better track usage of space across the 34,300 properties it owns or leases, saying that the USPS does not have reliable data on the amount that is under-used or unneeded, and “does not have a comprehensive space reduction strategy.”
The IG said it found “no recorded assessments to collect space utilization data for over 63 percent of all properties” because the USPS “lacks comprehensive data collection and verification processes and requirements.” In selected cases where such data were in the property management system, “Postal Service leadership did not use this data for decision-making purposes because it was unreliable and outdated.”
“Postal Service staff acknowledged these data deficiencies and have begun initiating corrective actions. The continued lack of reliable data, however, limits visibility into excess or underutilized spaces that could drive more financially beneficial alternatives, such as operational repurpose, rental, or disposal,” the report said.
It noted that real property management has been on GAO’s high-risk list since 2003, due to problems with underused or unneeded space and unreliable data, and that in 2016 Congress enacted the Federal Property Management Reform Act for agencies including the USPS to better track such space. The USPS however has not complied with those requirements since 2017, it said.
Postal management agreed with a recommendation regarding improving the accuracy of data on potentially excess workspace, but disagreements over other recommendations remain to be resolved between the USPS and the IG – notably the USPS took issue with the IG’s focus on USPS Facilities management. “Facilities management stated it is not the sole owner of policy and procedures related to excess and underutilized space, and that it would not know of excess or underutilized property without notification from the Retail and Delivery and Processing and Distribution groups.”
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