The National Park Service: Actions Needed to Improve Travel Cost Management: GAO-03-354

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Overview

Unable to obtain information on the National Park Service's (Park Service) travel costs to ensure that the agency is spending appropriated funds effectively and efficiently, the Congress asked GAO to assess the availability of travel cost information and provide certain travel cost information, such as the cost of foreign travel and for attending conferences, for the Park Service for each of the past 4 fiscal years. The Park Service reported that it incurred from $39 million to $50 million, in inflation-adjusted dollars annually, on travel costs during the past 4 fiscal years, but it does not know its actual costs for foreign travel or the travel costs related to attending conferences because its does not routinely record this required information. The Federal Travel Regulation requires that agency travel accounting systems capture certain data, including travel type, such as foreign or domestic travel, and purpose, such as training or conference attendance. In addition, the Park Service requires that all vouchers for foreign travel be processed at its Accounting Operations Center, but this policy is not consistently followed. The current procedures for processing travel vouchers and recording travel costs make it difficult for the Park Service to report reliable travel data that are consistent with the Federal Travel Regulation. Officials at the Park Service told us that they are implementing a new travel management system that will track travel type and purpose. The system is expected to be operating throughout the agency by approximately September 2003. Reliable, detailed travel information that is consistent with the Federal Travel Regulation is critical so that the Park Service and the Congress can perform their respective roles and responsibilities with regard to efficient travel cost management.