Transferring VA Records Center Activity to the General Services Administration

After a 1977 GAO general study of Federal records storage practices, it was proposed that the Veterans Administration (VA) Records Processing Center in St. Louis, Missouri be transferred to the General Services Administration (GSA). According to a GSA study an estimated potential 10 year savings of $8.5 to $12 million in space and equipment costs and $2 million in overhead could be realized if GSA assumed responsibility for storing and servicing the VA claim folders. When the VA and GSA could not reach a mutually satisfactory agreement on the VA center, GSA requested that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) resolve the issue. Although OMB confirmed the GAO and GSA position that savings could be achieved through the transfer of VA files, it maintained that the VA record center remain open for "programmatic reasons." GAO disagreed with the OMB decision on the grounds that OMB relied on misinformation concerning the adjudication workload at the VA St. Louis records center. An activity analysis of the claims folders at the center revealed that most of them were currently inactive. GAO suggests that adequate arrangements could be made to meet the VA access requirements to provide continued high quality service to veterans while achieving the savings available by transferring the VA records to GSA. GAO believes that nothing should be done to diminish the GSA leadership role concerning Federal records storage practices. Should H.R. 1245, the bill authorizing continued operation of the VA records center, be passed, GAO recommends that periodic reassessment be made to account for changes in conditions which might justify a different, more cost effective approach in the future.