United States General Accounting Office

GAO Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee

on the District of Columbia, Committee

on Government Reform and Oversight,

House of Representatives

November 1997 DISTRICT OF

COLUMBIA

Status of the Sports

Arena

GAO/AIMD-98-26

GAO United States

General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548

Accounting and Information

Management Division

B-275392 

November 14, 1997

The Honorable Thomas M. Davis, III

Chairman, Subcommittee on the

 District of Columbia

Committee on Government Reform

 and Oversight

House of Representatives

Dear Mr. Chairman:

You requested that we monitor and periodically report on the progress of

the sports arena project in the District of Columbia. This report, our sixth1

on this issue, discusses the project’s predevelopment costs, revenue

collections, and construction status.

Results in Brief As of October 7, 1997, the District estimated total predevelopment

expenditures to be about $58.5 million, a net increase of about $2.7 million

over its October 18, 1996, estimate, as reported in our December 1996

report. The increase is largely attributed to the extended time frames for

soil remediation efforts, which in turn compressed construction

schedules. The subsequent negotiated settlement with the sports arena

contractor on behalf of the subcontractors was to compensate them for

premium labor rates to get back on construction schedule and to cover

additional material costs.

The District’s $61.9 million in available funds for predevelopment costs for

the sports arena appears to be sufficient to meet estimated expenditures.

As of October 7, 1997, almost all of the predevelopment activities had been

completed, and the District had spent about $56.7 million, with an

additional $1.8 million budgeted for activities that will soon be completed,

leaving approximately $3.3 million to pay unanticipated expenses or to

redeem term bonds prior to their redemption dates. The only known

potential risk to the District’s sports arena budget is the price for property

taken in a condemnation action, which is to be settled through court

action scheduled for December 1, 1997. The difference between the funds

on deposit with the courts to pay for the property and the owner’s most

recent asking price is $3.35 million.

1

District of Columbia: Status of Sports Arena Project (GAO/AIMD-94-192, September 15, 1994); District

of Columbia: Status of Sports Arena and Convention Center Projects (GAO/T-AIMD-95-189, July 12,

1995); Sports Arena (GAO/AIMD-95-209R, July 26, 1995); Sports Arena (GAO/AIMD-96-43R,

February 21, 1996); and Status of the Sports Arena (GAO/AIMD-97-19, December 31, 1996).

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Collections from the dedicated Arena Tax have been more than sufficient

to pay principal and interest of about $5.9 million annually on the bonds

issued to finance the predevelopment expenses. For each of the past 2

years, collections have exceeded $9 million, and it appears that 1997

collections will also exceed $9 million. An analysis performed by the

District’s lead underwriter of the Sports Arena Special Tax Revenue Bonds

shows that if future year dedicated tax collections remain in the $9 million

range, and if revenues from the ground lease of the sports arena and

existing debt service reserve funds were used, the bonds could be paid off

in 2002, well before the last scheduled maturity date in 2010. The analysis

also revealed that the District would save about $15.6 million in interest

costs if the bonds were redeemed in 2002.

The sports arena is expected to be completed and available for use on

December 2, 1997, 3 months behind the originally scheduled date of

September 1, 1997.

Background The District of Columbia government, acting through the Mayor, the

District’s Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA),2

 and the District of Columbia

Arena, L.P. (DCALP)—a limited partnership formed by the owner of the

Washington Wizards3

 and the Washington Capitals—agreed that DCALP

would build a sports arena (estimated to cost about $175 million) and that

the District would be responsible for financing certain predevelopment

costs.

The District agreed to be responsible for the following predevelopment

costs:

• acquiring land, including the purchase of property not then owned by the

District;4

• connecting the Gallery Place Metrorail station to the sports arena;

2

The District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency was created and established as an

instrumentality of the District of Columbia government pursuant to the District of Columbia

Redevelopment Land Act, 60 Stat. 793, August 2, 1946 (D.C. Code Ann. sec. 5-801 et seq.), as amended

(the “RLA Act”). The purpose of RLA is to protect and promote the welfare of residents of the District

through the acquisition and assembly of real property and the lease of such property for

redevelopment.

3

Formerly known as the Washington Bullets.

4

The District has acquired two properties needed for the arena, and one was acquired through

condemnation proceedings. However, according to the District’s Project Manager for the sports arena,

the purchase price of the property acquired in condemnation will be determined by pending legal

proceedings scheduled for December 1, 1997.

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• relocating District employees from two buildings on the site to other

locations; and

• demolishing buildings, remediating soil,5 relocating utilities, and securing

all regulatory approvals necessary for construction of the sports arena.

The Omnibus Budget Support Act of 1994 (Arena Tax Act),6

 as amended,

provides for a Public Safety Fee (Arena Tax) to be levied on businesses

located in the District based upon the annual gross receipts of such

businesses. The Arena Tax is due on or before June 15 of each year. The

Arena Tax Act provides that if on or before December 1 of each year, the

Mayor estimates that the Arena Tax revenue is less than $9 million, the

Mayor is required to raise the Arena Tax rates to provide for an estimated

revenue of not greater than $9 million. The Arena Tax Act also authorized

RLA to pledge the Arena Tax as security to repay loans to finance

predevelopment activities. The Arena Tax was first levied in fiscal year

1995 and mostly used to fund predevelopment activities. In subsequent

years, the Arena Tax was used to pay principal and interest (debt service)

on the bonds as required by the bond resolution.7

To initially finance the predevelopment costs of the sports arena,

$2.5 million was advanced by the District’s Sports Commission.8

 The funds

were provided with the understanding that they would be repaid from the

proceeds of a loan the District would secure. In August 1995, the District

received a $53 million loan commitment (line of credit) from a consortium

of banks. In January 1996, RLA issued about $60 million in revenue bonds

backed by the Arena Tax and paid off the $36.6 million portion of the line

of credit used.

The funds originally available to pay the arena’s predevelopment costs and

to establish a debt service reserve totaled $66.6 million. These funds

consisted of (1) $57.4 million9

 in net bond proceeds (after financing costs)

from the sale of RLA Revenue Bonds in January 1996 and (2) about

$9.1 million in 1995 tax collections from the dedicated Arena Tax. Of the

5

Remediating the soil encompasses any and all corrective action taken to clean up a site in order to

meet District or federal standards for soil quality.

6

D.C. Code Ann. secs. 47-2751 through 47-2753 (1996 Supp.).

7

The bond resolution authorizes the issuance of bonds to pay for the predevelopment costs of the

arena project. It sets forth the terms, rights, and obligations of the RLA, bondholders, and trustees.

8

The Sports Commission is a business enterprise fund established by the District to promote sports

activities within the District of Columbia.

9

Of the approximately $60 million in bond proceeds, $2.6 million was used to cover various fees

associated with the bond sale.

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$66.6 million then available, $11 million was placed in two reserves. A

mandatory $5 million capital reserve, which was required by the bond

resolution, was established to pay for any insufficiency in the project fund.

A reserve of about $6 million was established for debt service.

Objectives, Scope,

and Methodology

Our objectives were to determine the status of the sports arena project’s

(1) predevelopment costs, (2) revenue collections, and (3) construction

status.

To determine the status of expenditures for predevelopment activities for

the sports arena, we interviewed District officials on the Arena Task

Force, the District’s Sports Commission and Corporation Counsel, the

Office of the D.C. Treasurer, and the Office of Tax and Revenue. We also

met with trustees for the bonds and lockbox (into which dedicated taxes

are deposited). In addition, we discussed the construction progress of the

arena and Metrorail connection with officials from DCALP and the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

We statistically selected a sample of expenditures for review. Our sample

was drawn from payments made from the funds provided by the District’s

Sports Commission, the loan from the consortium of banks, the 1995

Arena Tax collections, and the net proceeds from the sale of the bonds.

The sample was comprised of 56 expenditure items, which, at the time of

our audit, represented 92 percent of the total funds spent. We reviewed

each sampled expenditure item to determine whether it was made within

the terms of the contract or invoice amounts, it had been approved for

payment by a District official, and the funds had actually been disbursed.

We did not audit the reported taxes collected and deposited for the sports

arena project. Therefore, we did not determine if the District government

accurately identified the universe of taxpayers or reported all dedicated

taxes10 for this project. However, we reviewed the lockbox procedures

that were established to collect the dedicated taxes, and we also reviewed

monthly statements provided by the lockbox trustee to determine the

amount of taxes collected and placed in escrow. In addition, we reviewed

the District’s lead underwriter’s assumptions pertaining to the early

redemption of the term bonds. Our review was built on previous work,11

10The District does not perform a separate audit of the sports arena tax. This tax is audited as part of

the District’s comprehensive annual financial statements audit.

11See footnote 1 of this report.

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B-275392 

and we conducted our review from February 1997 through October 1997 in

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Predevelopment

Project Costs

Since our last report,12 predevelopment cost estimates have increased

from $55.8 million to about $58.5 million, or by a net amount of

$2.7 million (4.8 percent). The District’s predevelopment activities consist

of four major categories: (1) acquiring land, (2) demolishing two buildings,

remediating soil, relocating utilities, and using consultants to secure

regulatory approvals, (3) relocating District employees, and

(4) constructing the Metrorail connection. The District has completed

almost all of its predevelopment activities and has spent $56.7 million, or

about 97 percent, of the estimated total expenditures. Table 1 shows the

District’s total predevelopment activities financed for the sports arena

project.

12Status of the Sports Arena (GAO/AIMD-97-19, December 31, 1996), which reported predevelopment

cost estimates as of October 18, 1996.

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Table 1: The District of Columbia’s Predevelopment Activities Financed for the Sports Arena Project

(Dollars in thousands)

Predevelopment activities

Budget as of

October 18, 1996

Expendituresa as of

October 7, 1997

Increase (decrease)

since

October 18, 1996,

budget

Land acquisition

Appraisal/purchase price $34,268 $34,268b $0

Appraisal fee 50 0 (50)

Total $34,318 $34,268 ($50)

Metrorail connection

Construction costs $19,360 $19,000 ($360)

Less: Capital Assistance Grant (after $3 million District

cost) (12,000) (12,000) 0

Less: WMATA contribution (2,360) (2,000) 360

Less: DCALP contribution (2,000) (2,000) 0

Total $3,000 $3,000 0

Relocation of District Employees

Lease commitments $1,922 $1,868 ($54)

Lease appraisals and space consultants 70 2 (68)

Leasehold improvements 1,344 1,006 (338)

Furniture and equipment move 638 546 (92)

Telecommunication equipment move 875 623 (252)

Total $4,849 $4,045 ($804)

Building demolition, soil remediation, relocation:

legal, environmental, and consultant fees

Building demolition $1,000 $916 ($84)

Soil remediation 3,521 8,266 4,745c

Less: Far East Trade Center Associates, L.P.

contribution for soil remediation (569) (569) 0

Utility relocation 2,770 3,379 609

Business relocation 25 0 (25)

Legal, environmental, and consultant fees 2,533 2,693 160

D.C. Sports Commission reimbursement 302 324 22

Total $9,582 $15,009 $5,427

(continued)

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B-275392 

(Dollars in thousands)

Predevelopment activities

Budget as of

October 18, 1996

Expendituresa as of

October 7, 1997

Increase (decrease)

since

October 18, 1996,

budget

Bank costs

Bank fees $1,315 $1,922 $607

Total $1,315 $1,922 $607

Bond issuance costs $0 $307 $307

Total $0 $307 $307

Reserves for unanticipated increases $2,750 0 ($2,750)

Total costs financed by the District $55,814 $58,551 $2,737

aIncludes $56.7 million of actual cash disbursements and $1.8 million budgeted for activities that

will soon be completed.

bIncludes the $5.25 million that was deposited in escrow with the Superior Court of the District of

Columbia.

cRepresents $4 million in negotiated settlement with the developer and about $700,000 for

removal of concrete abutments, etc.

Land Acquisition As shown in table 1, land acquisition has represented over half of total

predevelopment costs and remains the only known potential risk to the

District’s predevelopment budget for the arena project. While the District

acquired two pieces of property for the sports arena site, the price of one

piece of property has not yet been determined. The District had two

appraisals performed on the land in question. The first appraisal reflects a

value of $5.25 million, and the second appraisal a value of $6.56 million.

The owner has an appraisal showing a value of $10.6 million, and the

owner’s last requested price was $8.6 million. The District invoked its

powers of eminent domain to secure title to the property and deposited

$5.25 million with the D.C. Superior Court, which is $3.35 million less than

the owner’s last requested price. According to the District’s project

manager, a trial to determine the value of the land is scheduled for

December 1, 1997.

Metrorail Connection The Metrorail connection to the sports arena is almost complete.

According to WMATA officials, the Metro station will be ready for an

unofficial opening on November 15, 1997. During the period between the

unofficial opening and the official opening on December 2, 1997, WMATA

will be finalizing its work, such as installing permanent lights and

Page 7 GAO/AIMD-98-26 Sports Arena
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handrails at the Metrorail station. In addition, according to WMATA officials,

the work on the Metrorail connection is currently within the budget of

$19 million, of which the District has contributed $3 million. WMATA

officials do not foresee any additional needs that would require additional

funding by the District.

Soil Remediation and

Related Activities

As shown in table 1, expenditures for building demolition, soil

remediation, and relocation of utilities have increased from the projected

$9.6 million reported in our December 1996 report to about $15 million, an

increase of $5.4 million, or about 56 percent. The significant increase in

expenditures in this category is primarily a result of a negotiated

settlement related to delays in construction activities due to extended time

frames for soil remediation efforts. The actual cost for soil remediation

($3.5 million) has not increased since our last report.

The majority of the increase in spending ($4 million) was paid to

DCALP—the developer. DCALP, on behalf of its subcontractors, had claimed

losses arising from construction delays. According to DCALP,

subcontractors had to pay additional premium labor rates to get back on

schedule, and additional materials were also required. DCALP claimed that

under the terms of the ground lease, the District was responsible for these

costs. As part of its settlement, the District has obtained a legal agreement,

intended to preclude the developer from prevailing in any further claims

for losses arising from soil remediation efforts. In our last report,13 we had

mentioned that the District’s Deputy Corporation Counsel stated that the

District would take legal action against the alleged source of the

contaminants if it does not receive compensation. However, as of

October 21, 1997, the District had not determined the amount or presented

a claim to the alleged source of the contaminants.

The $4 million was paid out of the project fund following a transfer of that

amount from the Mandatory Capital Reserve Fund. The Mandatory Capital

Reserve Fund was initially established with $5 million, as required by the

bond resolution, to cover any insufficiency in the project fund. The

Mandatory Capital Reserve Fund currently has a balance of about

$1 million. The bond resolution requires that any funds in excess of

$1 million in the Mandatory Capital Reserve Fund as of September 1, 1997,

that are not required to be used to finance any portion of the project be

transferred to the Redemption Fund and be used to redeem term bonds on

November 1, 1997. In addition, any balance remaining in the Mandatory

13See footnote 1 of this report.

Page 8 GAO/AIMD-98-26 Sports Arena
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Capital Reserve Fund on September 1, 1998, should be transferred to the

Redemption Fund and be used to redeem bonds on November 1, 1998.

In addition, the District requested and RLA modified the original bond

resolution in August 1997 to maintain funding in the project fund to be

used for predevelopment expenses after September 1, 1997.

All activities associated with soil remediation efforts have not been fully

completed. The District’s project manager for the sports arena has

recently included in the expenditure estimates an additional $700,000 for

the removal of concrete structures below the surface and remediation of

the soil, if necessary, on a parcel of land14 transferred to WMATA. The

District believes that it has budgeted sufficient funds to remove the

concrete structures.15 The District stated that based on preliminary work,

the soil is not contaminated. The project manager of the sports arena fund

stated that the District is hiring a contractor to perform further

examination of this parcel of land.

Relocation of District

Employees

The activities related to the relocation of District employees are almost

complete. As shown in table 1, as of October 7, 1997, total expenditures for

these activities is expected to be about $4 million, which is $804,000 less

than what was estimated about a year ago. According to the project

manager of the sports arena fund, leasehold improvements relating to

installing computer workstations will soon be completed and will cost

$338,000 less than the amount anticipated. In addition, spending on the

telecommunication equipment move will cost $252,000 less than originally

anticipated since it was determined that the cost was not solely associated

with the employees affected by the move but with work that was

performed on other District buildings.

Sources of Revenues for

Predevelopment Costs

Table 2 shows total receipts of about $61.9 million available as of

September 30, 1997, to fund predevelopment costs. Through that date, the

District had earned about $1.3 million in interest from the bond proceeds.

However, we have excluded $371,000 in funds that we believe the sports

arena project fund should not have received from the District’s General

Fund for sports arena predevelopment costs. In our last report, we stated

14This parcel of land is 8,080 square feet and is adjacent to the arena site, which is 218,435 square feet.

15Based on the land disposition agreement between the District, WMATA, and Far East Trade Center

Associates, L.P., the District is solely responsible for the payment of all work related to the demolition,

removal, and environmental cleanup, if required, of the land transferred to WMATA.

Page 9 GAO/AIMD-98-26 Sports Arena
B-275392 

that all of the leasehold improvement costs associated with the relocated

employees should have been paid from the District’s sports arena project

fund rather than from the District’s appropriated funds because this

activity was an allowable cost for the sports arena project. We had

informed the District’s Chief Financial Officer of this matter, and he had

agreed to recoup the money from the sports arena project fund. However,

as of October 7, 1997, the funds had not yet been returned to the District’s

General Fund. The project manager of the arena project fund contends

that this amount should be borne by the District since it was not factored

into the original predevelopment activities budget. We disagree. These

costs were precipitated by the relocation action to allow arena

construction and, accordingly, were an allowable cost of the sports arena

project.

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Table 2: Predevelopment Funds for the

Sports Arena Project as of

September 30, 1997

Sources of Receipts

Net proceeds from bond salea $57,436,001

Less: Mandatory debt service reserve (5,995,000)

1995 Dedicated Arena Tax collectionsb 9,149,036

Total funds for predevelopment

expenses $60,590,037

Interest earned on funds held in trust

Interest earned on bank loan fundsc 376,265

Interest earned on project fundsd 400,905

Interest earned on capital reserve

fundse 424,842

Interest earned on Metrorail fundsf 91,606

Total interest earned $1,293,618

Funds Received from D.C. Department of

Administrative Services 371,530

Less: Allowable project expenses to be

refunded to the District’s General Fund (371,530)

Total funds available for

predevelopment expenses $61,883,655

Less: Expenditures as of 10/7/97 (see

table 1) (58,551,000)

Total predevelopment funds still

available $3,332,655

aIncludes $5 million of mandatory capital reserve funds.

bTotal 1995 collection was about $9.3 million, and $119,000 was used for debt service.

cRepresents interest earned on borrowings from the August 1995 loan RLA secured from a

consortium of banks to pay for predevelopment expenses.

dRepresents interest earned on funds held by FMB Trust (bond trustee) and dedicated for project

expenses.

eRepresents interest earned on the $5 million of bond proceeds reserved to cover any

insufficiency in the project fund.

f

Represents interest earned on the District’s contribution ($3 million) to the capital assistance

grant awarded for the Metrorail connection.

Dedicated Tax

Revenue Collections

and Other Revenues

As of September 30, 1997, collections for the 1997 Arena Tax had totaled

about $9 million and were sufficient to meet 1997 principal and interest

payments (about $5.9 million annually) on the bonds issued to finance the

predevelopment expenses. The District forecasts Arena Tax collections of

$9 million for each year that the bonds are outstanding. For 1995 and 1996,

Page 11 GAO/AIMD-98-26 Sports Arena
B-275392 

the trustees for the lockbox collected Arena Tax revenues of about

$9.3 million and $9.6 million, respectively. Based on an analysis performed

by the District’s lead underwriter for the Sports Arena Special Tax

Revenue Bonds, if future Arena Tax collections remain in the $9 million

range, and if revenues from the ground lease of the arena and the

$6 million in the debt service reserve, including interest earnings, are used,

the bonds could be paid off in 2002, well before the 2010 maturity date of

the longest term bonds.

The approximately $9 million in dedicated tax revenues collected as of

September 30, 1997, compares favorably with 1995 and 1996 collections;

therefore, it is likely that collections will also exceed $9 million in 1997. As

was done in previous years, taxpayers were instructed to send their

payments to a lockbox under the control of bank trustees. We verified that

these funds were transferred to the trustee for the bonds and placed in

accounts for principal and interest payments.

The combined total of $18.6 million in dedicated tax revenues collected for

1996 and 1997 is being used to pay principal and interest on the sports

arena bonds. The District’s Sports Arena Special Tax Revenue Bonds are

comprised of about $15.4 million in serial bonds, which have stated

maturity dates from 1996 to 2000, and $44.5 million of term bonds with

stated maturity dates from 2001 to 2010. As of November 30, 1996, the

District had paid principal and interest of $5.8 million on its serial bonds.

The bond resolution requires that any additional tax collected over the

amount needed to pay debt service on bonds be placed in a super sinker

fund16 and be used to redeem term bonds earlier than their due dates.17

The serial bonds cannot be redeemed earlier than their stated maturity

dates.

According to the bond trustees, on May 1, 1997, about $2.5 million of term

bonds had been redeemed, and interest of about $1.6 million had been

paid. Of the $18.6 million collected in dedicated tax revenues as of

16The type of fund that permits early redemption of term bonds is commonly referred to as a super

sinker fund.

17Based on Section 603, Special Mandatory Redemption, of the bond resolution, the bonds maturing on

November 1, 2010, are subject to special mandatory redemption at a price of par, plus accrued interest

to the redemption date, in part, by lot, prior to their stated maturity on (1) any principal installment

date or interest payment date on and after November 1, 1996, from excess revenues on deposit in the

redemption account of the debt service fund, (2) November 1, 1997, from moneys in excess of 

$l million on deposit, if any, in the Mandatory Capital Reserve Fund as of September 1, 1997,

(3) November 1, 1998, from moneys on deposit, if any, in the Mandatory Capital Reserve Fund as of

September 1, 1998, and (4) November 1, 1997, from moneys, if any, remaining in the Project Fund as of

September 1, 1997. As stated previously, the bond resolution was modified in August 1997 so that

money in the project fund could be used for predevelopment expenditures.

Page 12 GAO/AIMD-98-26 Sports Arena
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September 30, 1997, the District has used about $9.9 million for debt

service, leaving about $8.7 million in the debt service fund. In addition,

according to the bond trustee, as of September 30, 1997, the District had

approximately $6.5 million, including about $500,000 in interest earnings,

in the debt service reserve fund.

The District will soon begin to generate additional revenue from the lease

of the sports arena land, which will also be used to pay debt service on the

bonds. Pursuant to the terms of a ground lease dated December 29, 1995,

the District and the RLA have agreed to lease to DCALP, the land upon which

the arena is constructed for 30 years with the option to extend the lease

for two 10-year periods. DCALP will make annual payments in quarterly

installments to RLA, upon issuance of a certificate of occupancy. Based on

the terms of the ground lease, for the next 6 years, the District will receive

$300,000 annually and is expected to receive a total of about $24 million

for the 30-year lease period.

The District’s lead underwriter on the Sports Arena Special Tax Revenue

Bonds has performed an analysis18 that shows that if future collections of

dedicated tax revenues remain about the same as past collections, and if

revenues from the ground lease of the arena and from the debt service

reserve fund were used, the bonds could be paid off in the year 2002, 8

years before the last scheduled maturity date. In addition, the analysis

revealed that the District would save about $15.6 million in interest costs

from early redemption of the term bonds at their par value.

Construction Status According to the Chief Operating Officer of DCALP, the arena is scheduled

for an unofficial opening on November 15, 1997 and the majority of the

work will be completed at that time. The arena is expected to be

completed and available for its intended use on December 2, 1997, about 3

months later than the originally scheduled date of September 1, 1997.

District’s Comments

and Our Evaluation

We requested comments on a draft of this letter from the Mayor of the

District of Columbia. The Mayor provided us with comments that are

reprinted in appendix I. With regard to the District presenting a claim to

the alleged source of the contaminants, the Mayor stated that the Office of

the Corporation Counsel is in the process of determining how to proceed

with legal action.

18“District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency Sports Arena Special Tax Revenue Bonds

Summary Transaction,” prepared by Merrill Lynch on January 9, 1996.

Page 13 GAO/AIMD-98-26 Sports Arena
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We are sending copies of this report to the Ranking Minority Member of

your Subcommittee and to the the Chairmen and Ranking Minority

Members of the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations and

their subcommittees on the District of Columbia and the Subcommittee on

Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the District of

Columbia, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. Major contributors

to this report are listed in appendix II. If you or your staff need further

information, please contact me at (202) 512-4476.

Sincerely yours,

Gloria L. Jarmon

Director, Civil Audits

Page 14 GAO/AIMD-98-26 Sports Arena
Page 15 GAO/AIMD-98-26 Sports Arena
Appendix I 

Comments From the District of Columbia

Note: GAO comments

supplementing those in the

report text appear at the

end of this appendix.

See comment 1.

Page 16 GAO/AIMD-98-26 Sports Arena
Appendix I 

Comments From the District of Columbia

The following is GAO’s comment on the letter from the Mayor of the

District of Columbia dated November 7, 1997.

GAO Comment 1. The Mayor’s assumption is correct. Table 1 contains both budget

obligation and expenditure amounts.

Page 17 GAO/AIMD-98-26 Sports Arena
Appendix I 

Major Contributors to This Report

Accounting and

Information

Management Division,

Washington, D.C.

Hodge Herry, Assistant Director

Barbara Shields, Audit Manager

Lou Fernheimer, Senior Evaluator

Office of General

Counsel

Richard T. Cambosos, Senior Attorney

(901735) Page 18 GAO/AIMD-98-26 Sports Arena
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