ADP Budget

In response to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Social Security Administration's (SSA): (1) automatic data processing procurements; (2) expenses related to its Systems Modernization Plan; and (3) estimates of future costs to complete the plan.

GAO developed data on the SSA Information Technology Systems (ITS) budget activity for fiscal years (FY) 1983 through 1987, including: (1) total funding available by source; (2) estimated and actual amounts of carryover funds; (3) budgeted funding by category; (4) budgeted versus actual expenditures in total and by category; (5) obligations for projects included versus those not included in the budget submissions by year and by category; and (6) total amounts for FY 1983 through 1987. GAO found that: (1) SSA has obligated less funds each year than Congress approved for its ITS budget; (2) SSA has accumulated a considerable amount of carryover funds; (3) since 1983, Congress has provided a no-year authorization for SSA to carry over unobligated funds from year to year; (4) the lower obligation amounts resulted generally from project delays, cancellations, and scope reductions as well as lower-than-anticipated procurement costs; and (5) SSA is obligating a considerable amount of its ITS budget funds for unbudgeted projects that the President's budget did not include. GAO has not yet determined the reasons for the various trends or the effects, if any, of these budget actions.