Review of Expenditures of the Commission on Postal Service

The Commission on Postal Service was created to identify and study problems facing the United States Postal Service and to recommend actions to resolve those problems. The Commission hired its first employee in November 1976 and terminated its employees in May 1977, a period of about 6 months. At the request of Gaylord Freemen, former Chairman of the Commission, the expenditures of the Commission were examined.

Authorizing legislation provided that the compensation of Commission personnel not exceed the GS-18 level of $47,500 a year. None of the Commission's employees exceeded the maximum salary allowed, but 11 of the Commission's 16 employees received substantial salary increases during the 6-month period. These substantial increases affected terminal leave payments. With few exceptions, Commission personnel traveled in first class accomodations which increased travel costs by about 60%. A private travel agency handled all travel arrangements for the Commission. Ticket downgradings from first class and itinerary changes resulted in the airlines issuing personal refund checks to a number of Commission employees. Most of these refunds were forwarded to the Commission for disposition, but some refunds were not accounted for. Several furniture rentals by the Commission may actually have been sales.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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