**GAO-04-841R**                      Published: Jul 02, 2004. Publicly Released: Jul 02, 2004.                  

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## Highlights

In recent years, Congress has raised concerns about cost growth in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) operating budget. Appropriators noted several expenses in FAA's fiscal year 2004 facilities and equipment (F&E) account budget submission that appeared to be ongoing operating expenses. The House and Senate appropriations subcommittee reports on FAA's fiscal year 2004 budget submission highlighted 17 such budget items and recommended that the expenses for these items either be transferred to the operations budget or not receive funding. As a result of these concerns, the Conference Report accompanying the fiscal year 2004 Omnibus Appropriations Act directed us to conduct an audit of FAA's policies and practices for determining whether an expense should be budgeted in its operating accounts or in the capital account. Specifically, this report addresses the following questions: (1) What are FAA's policies for determining whether an expense--including personnel compensation, benefits, travel, and related expenses--belongs in its capital (F&E) or Operations accounts? (2) How did FAA implement its policies for determining whether 17 specific budget line items identified by appropriators belong in its F&E or Operations accounts, including personnel compensation, benefits, travel, and related expenses? (3) How do FAA's budget policies compare with those of other civilian agencies with large acquisition budgets, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Defense (DOD)?

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## Topics

Transportation

Appropriation accountsBudget administrationBudget authorityBudget outlaysFederal procurementPolicy evaluationBudget requestsCapital expensesOperating expensesPerformance-based budgetingPolicies and procedures