Federal Buildings Fund

Financial Results by Major Fund – Federal Buildings Fund

The FBF is the primary fund established for financial administration of the Public Buildings Service (PBS) activities. PBS provides workplaces for Federal agencies and their employees. FBF resources are primarily generated by rent paid to GSA by other Federal agencies. Operating results are displayed on the Consolidating Statements of Net Cost, segregated into the two primary components of Building Operations – Government Owned, and Building Operations – Leased.

In FY 2020, FBF gross revenue was over $12.2 billion, with over 58 percent of the revenue generated from the top five Federal customer agencies as shown in the table below:

FBF Net Revenue from Operations

FBF Net Revenue from Operations represents the amounts remaining after the costs of operating GSA owned and leased buildings are subtracted from revenue. Net Revenue from Operations is used to invest in major repairs and alterations for Federal buildings and to provide funding for the cost of constructing new Federal buildings.

The primary source of revenue into the FBF is rent from our customer agencies and the primary sources of expense are the cost of leasing building space and the cost of operating the GSA portfolio of GSA owned and leased buildings. PBS also operates a reimbursable work authorization program, which provides customer agencies with alterations and improvements in GSA space, above what is specified in base rental agreements.

The operating results on the Statements of Net Cost reflect a generally stable condition of the overall real property portfolio, where FBF revenues increased by 2.6 percent between FY 2020 and FY 2019. The FBF reported net revenues in excess of expenses of $436 million in FY 2020 compared to net revenues in excess of expenses of $524 million in FY 2019, representing a decrease of $88 million. The largest single escalation to expenses in FY 2020 is the increase in the recorded asbestos liability estimation. Based on an annual review, the cost factor estimation increased from $8.71 per square foot in FY 2019 to $9.82 per square foot in FY 2020. After factoring in FY 2020 abatement projects completed by PBS, $139 million was added to PBS’ liability account balance.

FBF Obligations and Outlays

In the FBF, obligations are primarily the value of contracts awarded to commercial vendors for the construction of new Federal buildings; for repairs and alterations, cleaning, utilities and other maintenance of GSA-owned Federal buildings; and lease and related payments to commercial landlords for space leased by GSA for Federal agencies. Obligations incurred in FY 2020 reflect only slight increases in total program activity. The change in Net Outlays reflects a continuing trend of collections from operating revenues exceeding amounts disbursed for operating and capital programs. Both obligations incurred and outlays reflect increases particularly driven by the $767 million purchase of the Department of Transportation headquarters building in Washington, DC during FY 2020. Excluding that purchase, the balance of the obligations incurred and gross outlays in the FBF were down slightly from the previous year.