Proposed Relocation and Consolidation of the Soil Conservation Service at Fort Worth, Texas
Gao ID: CED-82-26 December 17, 1981A congressman requested that GAO review the Department of Agriculture's proposed relocation of certain Soil Conservation Service (SCS) functions. The relocation is part of a proposed overall SCS reorganization, consolidation, and employee reduction plan.
GAO reviewed the proposal and concluded that neither the SCS proposal nor its supporting data provided an adequate basis for judging the merits of the proposed move. GAO found the following flaws in the proposal: (1) benefits not related to the move were attributed to it; (2) program operations were not analyzed adequately; (3) uncertainties existed about the types of variables which were included in or omitted from the cost/benefit analysis as well as the values assigned to some of the variables; and (4) there were inadequate backup or supporting data. GAO concluded that the proposal was sufficiently flawed to render it inadequate as a basis for a decision to relocate.