Housing and Urban Development: Management and Budget Issues in HUD's Fiscal Year 1995 Appropriation

GAO discussed the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) reorganization and its programs, priorities, and business operations. GAO noted that: (1) HUD reorganization could overshadow the redirection of its programs and priorities; (2) HUD may not have the resources to complete its overly ambitious reinvention agenda; (3) the Government National Mortgage Corporation needs more staffing flexibility to improve its focus on areas of risk and exposure and its response to future management challenges; (4) HUD information systems have not been planned and managed to meet its strategic objectives and it will take years of sustained management attention to correct these problems; (5) large budget carryovers have raised questions about HUD ability to allocate funds efficiently and its need for new budget authority; (6) HUD has a backlog of obligated and unobligated funds because of difficulties in planning modernization projects; (7) HUD does not accurately estimate the future costs of incentives for property owners to preserve their properties as low-income housing; (8) HUD could have the ultimate responsibility to settle claims resulting from lead-based paint poisoning, but HUD could minimize lead-based hazards by acting on previous recommendations; and (9) HUD cannot realistically resolve its problems in a single year.