Quarters - A Review
The Forest Service can no longer afford to maintain housing beyond what is required to accomplish our mission.
Changes in transportation, technology, communications, the way we do business, and societal changes dictate that Forest Service must consider reducing nonessential quarters.
The General Accounting Office, the Inspector General, and the explanatory notes for Fire, Administrative, and Other (FA&O) construction all talk about justifying and furnishing housing only when necessary and only when private sector housing is unavailable.
The Forest Service has over 5,000 quarters. We have more than 2,000 houses and
1,100 barracks buildings. We also have more than 600 mobile homes and 700 trailer pads. Cabins and apartments account for most of the remaining quarters.
We had 30,049 permanent employees with 1,700 of those in quarters during peak season in 1997 (PP 14). We had 16,015 temporary employees with 2,905 of those in quarters during PP 14.
Our occupancy rate is 47 percent for family type housing by permanent employees during peak season. The occupancy rate for barracks type housing during peak season is 60 percent based on four beds per barracks and 31 percent based on eight beds per barracks.
About 60 percent of our quarters are over 30 years old and about 50 percent of them are in fair and poor condition.
The estimated cost to upgrade our quarters and to meet current codes is over
$17 million dollars. Backlog costs are estimated at $150 million.
Revenues collected are substantially below what is needed to bring quarters up to standard. We also should use the carryover funds we have available.
Office of Management and Budget Circular A-11 says, we should not construct housing within a 2-hour round trip commute of available housing. about 49 percent of our houses (includes duplexes, etc.) are within 30 miles of an established community. Another 13 percent are within 40 miles. About 58 percent of our housing is within 40 miles of an established community.
RECOMMENDATION
The Forest Service should initiate a program that considers disposal of vacant or underutilized quarters immediately. We should then survey all remaining quarters using the criteria in OMB Circular A-11, and dispose of quarters that cannot be justified. Quarters should be converted to other uses if there is a need or exchanged for sites that we need. If exchange is not a viable solution then the buildings or site, as appropriate, should be reported as excess.
Conduct and integrate local Civil Rights Impact Analysis into planning and implementation to determine for consideration effects on employees, and community housing markets prior to final decisions, or as part of any organization restructuring or downsizing efforts.

1
QUARTERS - A REVIEW by Joel Biren, 3/98
INTRODUCTION
The Forest Service has provided housing for employees for many years. The need to get work done at remote sites forced us to build and maintain housing at many locations. Changes in the ways we do business, organization restructuring and downsizing, societal changes, improvements in technology, communications, transportation, deteriorating buildings, increasing costs to maintain housing, and reduced budgets are all reasons for reviewing our need for Government provided housing.
An informed decision includes Civil Rights Impact Analysis (CRIA) as an integral part of the final decision. Societal changes, management situations, etc. shown above, are important CRIA variables to be described at the local level and part of the planning and implementation processes.
Acquisition Management has collaborated with Human Resources, Lands, Engineering, and Civil Rights Staffs on this project and their recommendations are contained within this Review.
FOREST SERVICE MANAGED QUARTERS
We currently have 5170 quarters units. Table 1 shows the breakdown by housing type. The 1103 barracks is the number of buildings and not the number of tenants or employees that the buildings are designed to house.
TABLE 1
Barracks 1103
Houses/Plexes 2067 Cabins 321
Apartments 147 Temporary 13
Mobile Homes 623 Travel Trailers 131 Trailer Pads 765
--- ---- ---
Totals 2837 1568 765
Grand Total 5170

CONDITION OF QUARTERS
The condition of our housing is a concern to both tenants and managers.
Figure 1 shows for both the exterior and interior the percent of our housing units (excluding trailer pads) by Condition Code.
Figure 1
Poor
9%
Obsolete
1%
Excellent
9%
2
Fair
40%
Good
41%
In addition to normal deterioration and obsolescence, passage of new laws has increased the costs to maintain our housing. We must now concern ourselves with identifying and then dealing with problems associated with lead base paint, asbestos, radon, seismic concerns, fire codes, energy, and accessibility requirements. These considerations partially explain some of the reasons that costs are increasing.
Table 2 was prepared by Engineering to show the costs to upgrade our quarters as indicated.

3
TABLE 2
COSTS TO IMPROVE AND BRING HOUSING UP TO CODE
To bring quarters from a "Fair" condition to "Good" condition (1837 units):
Assuming a 1200 square foot residence
Estimate is $5,160.
$/sq. ft. is $4.30
Range of $4 to $7 per sq. ft.
To bring quarters from "Poor" condition to "Good" condition (440 units):
Assuming a 1200 sq. ft. residence
Estimate is $20,160. per residence
$/sq. ft. average cost of $16.80
Range of $15 to $18 per sq. ft.
To bring quarters from an "obsolete" condition to "Good" condition (9 units):
Assume the structure will have to be replaced.
Estimate new construction cost for a residence including design, construction, and all contract administration costs.
Average sq. ft. costs per selected Region:
R-1, $75 to $85
R-4, $80 to $90
R-8, $65 to $75
Range of $65 to $90
Modernizing kitchens pushes costs to the upper end of the range.
"Obsolete" to "good" is total replacement. For most cases, to make a residence accessible it will take very major renovation and from a practical standpoint it will cost probably 50% of total replacement (say $30 to $40/sq.
ft.). Based on the ages of our residences, the prudent thing is replacement to take advantage of all new technology at the same time.
Accessibility for new houses is mandatory and is in the "obsolete" to "good" cost range.
There are no seismic evaluation/mitigation costs in these estimates for existing residences. We must Add $3 to $4/sq. ft. for those buildings located in parts of the Country where seismic risk is high.
If fire/life safety is moved from "fair/poor" to "good" - add $1/sq. ft. to the previous listed costs.
In 1992, our estimate to bring our quarters up to a "good" standard was $17 million dollars. Additional factors since then have increased that estimate.
Our housing backlog costs are in the neighborhood of $150 million.

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AGE OF QUARTERS
As with our other facilities our quarters are old and in many cases functionally obsolete and not located in the appropriate place. We should consider disposal of most of these structures and not continue to invest in them.
Figure 2 shows the number of our housing units by age group.
FIGURE 2
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
YEARS

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OCCUPANCY OF QUARTERS
When GAO was doing their review of Park Service Housing they contacted a number of field personnel about quarters and requested information from us about our quarters. One of the requested items was a listing of our permanent and temporary employees (without names) that were in quarters during any part of two pay periods. Pay periods 1 and 14 were chosen to show winter and summer use of quarters. Table 3 is a summary of that data.
TABLE 3
Number of employees with quarters days in pay periods (PP) 1 and 14.
PERMANENT TEMPORARY
TOTAL WITH TOTAL WITH
PERMANENT QUARTERS TEMPORARY QUARTERS
---- ---- ----- ----
PP 01, 1993 35029 1773 12337 151
PP 01, 1996 30809 1549 12957 328
PP 01, 1997 29885 1448 10508 234
PP 14, 1993 34928 2069 11417 1531
PP 14, 1996 30913 1813 18708 3535
PP 14, 1997 30049 1700 16015 2905
Comparing the use of quarters in 1997 from Table 3 with the availability of quarters from Table 1 shows that many quarters are not used or are underutilized.
Use of family type housing continues to trend down.
The occupancy rate for PP 01 was 40% considering the availability of family type housing (houses/plexes, apartments, mobile homes, and trailer pads) and the use of such housing by permanent employees (1448 divided by 3602).
Use during PP 14 increases. The occupancy rate for family type housing rises to
47% during peak summer use (1700 divided by 3602).
Barracks type housing (barracks, cabins, temporary, and travel trailers) use presents a different picture. We have 1103 barracks buildings. The capacity
(number of beds) of each barracks building is unavailable because of inaccuracies in completing the quarters data forms.
The occupancy rate for barracks type housing during PP 01 is 5% when using an average of four beds per barracks building (1103x4+465). The occupancy rate is
3% when using an average of eight beds per barracks building (1103x8+465).
The occupancy rate for barracks type housing during PP 14 is 60% when using an average of four beds per barracks building. The occupancy rate is 31% when using an average of eight beds per barracks building.

6
REVENUES FROM QUARTERS
The BUDG 53-5 for the period ending September 30, 1997 shows the following
QMQM revenues, expenditures, and unobligated balances for Regions and Stations:
TABLE 4
BUDG 53-5 REPORT
Acct Center Revenues Expenditures Unobligated
01 645,141. 680,154. 375,856.
02 472,298. 426,689. 237,377.
03 515,248. 557,408. 109,728.
04 793,665. 836,347. 460,712.
05 1,650,075. 1,552,821. 574,585.
06 1,796,325. 1,892,014. 1,177,378.
08 299,947. 321,855. 251,320.
09 198,870. 159,632. 291,219.
10 470,001. 533,482. 297,024.
13 1,794. 94,533. 38,956.
14 0. 392. 73.
16 6,837. 2,124. 46,182.
22 3,846. 5,171. 2,289.
24 6,039. 6,969. 19,899.
26 255. 0. 9,306.
27 36,170. 13,715. 127,151.
28 7,078. 2,971. 40,597.
29 0. 0. 0.
33 659. 6,551. 21,723.
Total 6,904,248. 7,062,828. 4,081,375.
The amount of revenue collected is consistent with the quarters usage shown in
Table 3.
We have been carrying over an average of $4,145,683 per year for the last five years in the quarters account (QMQM). Considering the condition of our quarters we should increase our efforts to use the funds we have available on quarters we really need.
The low usage of available quarters exacerbates maintenance problems because fewer dollars are available for maintenance due to the reduced revenue. Using current revenues the average yearly amount collected per quarters unit is $1335.
When the number of trailer pads (765) is excluded from the computation, the average yearly amount collected per quarters unit is $1567. After utilities are paid there is little left for maintenance and upgrading.
In early 1995 the average monthly rental for houses/plexes was $327. Rents have been increasing. Starting March 1, 1998 the average will be $412 per month. The monthly rent includes, where applicable, Government furnished water, sewer, electricity, fuel, and adjustments authorized by OMB Circular A-45.

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GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE RECOMMENDATIONS
In August of 1994 the General Accounting Office (GAO) completed its report titled: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, Reexamination of Employee Housing Program Is
Needed, GAO/RCED-94-284 (B-258035).
This GAO review was of Park Service's housing program. The review compared Park
Service's housing program with Forest Service and BLM programs. It also identified options available to the Park Service to deal with their housing problems.
GAO's first recommendation stated "... the Secretary of the Interior require the
Director of the Park Service to conduct a park-by-park review of housing needs to determine whether the agency's current housing inventory at each location is needed and justified."
USDA's Inspector General in his transmittal of the GAO report on National Park
Service to the Chief said that we should note this recommendation.
The February 1997 GAO Report titled; LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCIES (GAO/RCED-97-40) says in part, "Agencies policies also require that the need for rental housing be examined annually and, absent adequate justification, excess housing be removed from the housing inventory."
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET CIRCULAR A-11
We are to follow OMB Circular A-11 in considering construction of federally owned housing. See OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET CIRCULAR NO. A-11, Part I, June
1997 for instructions on PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF BUDGET ESTIMATES, 12
General Policies, 12.5(n) Construction of federally-owned housing.
Circular A-11 says we should only construct housing when it is necessary to meet requirements for service or protection, or where there is lack of available housing. Housing for both sale and rent is to be considered available if located within a reasonable commuting distance. The Circular defines reasonable commuting distance as a distance requiring travel time of not more than two hours per round trip by automobile or public transportation.
Per OMB Circular A-45 base rental rates are set by means of a series of economic models that utilize typical rental rates for comparable private rental housing in the established communities nearest to where our Government quarters are located.
An established community is ordinarily the nearest population center
(Metropolitan Statistical Area or an incorporated or unincorporated city or town) having a year-round population of 1,500 or more (5000 in Alaska), that has minimum medical facilities.
Figure 3 shows the percent of our housing units (excluding trailer pads) by distance from the nearest established community. It does not consider housing that may be available in less populated areas near our Government housing.
Exhibit I shows, for Regions and Stations, the number of units by distance from the nearest established community. Exhibit II shows the percent of each
Region/Station housing units relative to the distance from the nearest established community.

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Figure 3
42%
6%
15%
8%
3%
12%
14%
MILES
Under 0
1-5
6-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
Over 40
A high percentage of our quarters is reasonably close to established communities and in most cases even closer to housing in smaller towns or neighboring areas.
Excluding trailer pads, 43% of our housing is within 30 miles of an established community. Another 15% is within 40 miles. For houses and plexes the percentage is even higher; 49% or 1,021 of our houses/plexes are within 30 miles of an established community. An additional 275 houses/plexes or 13% are within 40 miles.
It appears that many of our quarters are within a 2-hour commute of private housing and per the direction in OMB Circular A-11, may not be justified.
The need to justify quarters is reinforced in the FY-96 explanatory notes for
FA&O construction. These notes say, "Family housing will not be constructed in locations where such housing can be rented or purchased by the employee in the private sector at a reasonable cost."
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
There are reasons in addition to cost for reducing the numbers of quarters especially at isolated locations. The way we do business has changed over the years. We no longer employ large crews to do force account work but accomplish much of the work by contract.
Transportation and road conditions are much better than 40 years ago.
Communications capabilities are like never before.
The use of computers and modeling enables us to do more planning from the office thus reducing the number of visits and time spent at field locations.
The attitudes of people, including Forest Service employees, have changed and continue to change. Family, social, cultural, and educational opportunities are important considerations today. This is even more so with many minorities who are committed to the extended family.

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With few exceptions, people now have the option of applying for jobs where they want to work. We do not subsidize our employees that live in cities and we should not subsidize those that choose to work at forest locations.
SUMMARY
Our occupancy rate is 47% for family type housing by permanent employees during peak season. The occupancy rate for barracks type housing during peak season is
60% based on four beds per barracks and 31% based on eight beds per barracks.
About 60% of our quarters are over 30 years old and about 50% of them are in fair and poor condition.
The cost to upgrade our quarters and to meet current codes is over $17 million dollars. Backlog costs are estimated at $150 million.
Revenues collected are substantially below what is needed to bring quarters up to standard. We also should use the funds we have available.
OMB Circular A-11 says we should not construct housing within a 2-hour round trip commute of available housing. About 49% (1021) of our houses/plexes are within
30 miles of an established community. Another 13% are within 40 miles. About
58% of our housing is within 40 miles of an established community.
GAO, the Inspector General, and the explanatory notes for FA&O Construction all talk about justifying and furnishing housing only when necessary and only when private sector housing is unavailable.
Transportation, communications, the way we do business, and societal changes dictate that we must do things differently.
We can no longer afford to maintain housing beyond what is required to accomplish our mission (no housing reasonably available or special security needs).
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the foregoing, the Forest Service should initiate a program that would consider disposal of vacant or underutilized quarters immediately. As part of this process we should then justify all remaining quarters using the criteria in
OMB Circular A-11 and other CRIA variables, and dispose of quarters that cannot be justified. Quarters should be converted to other uses if there is a need or exchanged for sites that we need in line with local unit reorganizations and downsizing plans and CRIAs. If exchange is not a viable solution then the buildings or site, as appropriate, should be reported as excess.

800
600
400
200
0
1200
1000
EXHIBIT I
MILES
OVER 40
31-40
21-30
11-20
6-10
1-5
UNDER 0
10

80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
11
EXHIBIT II
UNDER 0 1-5 6-10 11-20
17
2
0
0
11
36
44
20
35
50
25
8
0
0
248
15
25
20
39
85
42
70
32
9
3
0
0
0
3
343
4
15
20
4
45
7
18
8
1
3
0
1
1
3
130
29
0
1
0
4
15
30
33
55
163
126
75
2
5
538
21-30
35
0
0
0
5
45
42
55
50
165
176
47
0
0
620
31-40
19
0
1
4
0
55
65
115
81
93
202
20
0
0
655
468
1
11
106
1
0
1
OVER
40
329
141
234
352
218
0
4
1866
TOTAL
499
362
497
616
819
1046
239
151
118
9
4
22
3
15
4400
100%
MILES
OVER 40
31-40
21-30
11-20
6-10
1-5
UNDER 0