Smithsonian Institution: Funding Challenges Affect Facilities' Conditions and Security, Endangering Collections

In Sept. 2007, we found that the Smithsonian Institution faced challenges related to communicating important security-related information to museum and facility directors. Since Sept. 2007, the Smithsonian's Director of the Office of Protection Services arranged to meet with museum and facility directors on an annual basis to discuss the all-hazards risk assessment and updates to it.

In Sept. 2007, we found that the Smithsonian Institution faced challenges related to communicating important security-related information to museum and facility directors. Following our Sept. 2007 report, the Smithsonian Director of the Office of Protection Services began sending daily security staffing reports to museum directors and managers. According to four museum managers we spoke to, the reports have been helpful in providing information needed to manage security and protect assets.

In September 2007, we found that, although private funds made up 39 percent of the Smithsonian Institution's (Smithsonian) capital funds for facilities projects for fiscal years 2002 through 2007, the Smithsonian omitted privately funded projects from its capital plan, making it challenging for the Smithsonian and other stakeholders to comprehensively assess the funding and scope of facilities projects. We therefore recommended that the Smithsonian's facilities capital plan include the full scope of planned projects and information on planned funding sources (federal and private funds)for each project. In September 2008, the Smithsonian fully implemented this recommendation by creating a facilities capital plan for fiscal years 2008-2017 that includes a description of planned projects and their funding sources.

In September 2007, we found that the Smithsonian Institution (Smithsonian) Board of Regents efforts to develop and implement strategies to fund its facilities needs have been limited. In June 2005, the Board of Regents established an ad-hoc committee to explore nine options to address the Smithsonian?s April 2005 estimated $2.3 billion for facilities projects through fiscal year 2013. However, we found that some of the Smithsonian?s evaluations of the funding options were limited in that they did not always provide complete analysis, fully explain specific assumptions or benchmark with other organizations. We recommended that the Smithsonian analyze in a more comprehensive manner the funding strategies, along with any additional strategies. In response, on November 19, 2007, the Smithsonian regents concurred with a more comprehensively analyzed and prioritized list of funding strategies that included some previously identified strategies, as well as some new strategies. This list included establishing a national campaign to raise private sector funds for Smithsonian programs and facilities, among other strategies. Since then, in May 2008, the Board of Regents established a committee that will oversee the development of the national campaign, among other things.

In 2007, we reported that the Smithsonian Institution had made a number of facilities improvements since a prior 2005 GAO report on this subject, but the continued deterioration of many facilities had caused further access restrictions and had threatened collections. In addition, the Smithsonian's cost estimate for facilities projects had increased. Furthermore, we found that funding constraints were clearly a common denominator with regard to the Smithsonian's security and real property management, but the Smithsonian Board of Regents' efforts to develop and implement strategies to fund its facilities revitalization, construction, and maintenance needs had been limited. We recommended that the Smithsonian submit a report to OMB and Congress that describes a funding strategy to meet the needs of its revitalization, construction, and maintenance projects, so that OMB and Congress can understand the steps the Smithsonian is taking to meet these needs in addition to its requests for federal funding. In response, the Smithsonian Board of Regents approved, in January 2011, a comprehensive National Campaign to raise private funds to help address the Smithsonian's needs, including facilities. The National Campaign is designed to, among other things, address capital project needs in several of the Smithsonian's major facilities, including National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of American History, and the National Air and Space Museum. Smithsonian staff briefed OMB on the National Campaign in April 2011 and held briefings with key congressional committees in May and June 2011, with additional briefings being scheduled. As a result of these efforts, the Smithsonian has taken a key strategic step toward addressing its funding challenges for capital projects, with the input of key stakeholders including Congress and OMB.