Financial Management

BIA Has Made Limited Progress in Reconciling Indian Trust Fund Accounts and Developing a Strategic Plan Gao ID: T-AFMD-92-6 April 2, 1992

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) manages trust funds for hundreds of thousands of individual Indians and tribes. At the end of fiscal year 1991, cumulative account balances totaled nearly $2 billion as a result of payments from claims; oil, gas, and mineral royalties; land use agreements; investment income; and other sources. BIA's trust fund reconciliation project, which began last summer, seeks to identify correct account balances for Indian accounts using source documents to reconstruct trust account transactions so that account holders are provided as accurate an accounting as possible. Because many accounts are between 50 and 100 years old, however, the lack of supporting documentation presents a major obstacle. This testimony examines BIA's progress in reconciling the Indian trust fund accounts and developing a strategic plan for trust fund financial management improvement.



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