62478 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 225 / Friday, November 21, 1997 / Notice

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR–4266–N–02]

The HUD 2020 Management Reform

Plan; Notice of New HUD Field

Structure

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of the New Field

Structure under the HUD 2020

Management Reform Plan and CostBenefit Analysis.

SUMMARY: On August 12, 1997, HUD

published in the Federal Register notice

of the ‘‘HUD 2020 Management Reform

Plan.’’ The HUD 2020 Management

Reform Plan is HUD’s plan for

significant management reforms at the

Department. The reforms contained in

the plan are directed toward (1)

empowering people and communities to

improve themselves and (2) restoring

HUD’s reputation and credibility by

improving the efficiency and

effectiveness of the Department’s

programs, operations and provision of

services.

This notice presents the new HUD

Field structure under the HUD 2020

Management Reform Plan, including an

analysis of the costs and benefits of that

plan. The new Field structure is

designed to reallocate the Department’s

resources to strengthen service delivery

from HUD’s current 81 Field Offices.

The HUD 2020 Management Reform

Plan does not result in the closing of

any HUD offices and calls for no

reduction or transfer in the location or

in the amount of services currently

provided by the Department to its

constituents.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

further information, contact the Office

of Departmental Operations and

Coordination, the Department of

Housing and Urban Development, 451

Seventh Street, SW, Washington DC

20410, (202) 708–0988. (This is not a

toll free number.) Comments or

questions can be submitted through the

Internet to

CandislB.lHarrison@hud.gov. More

information on HUD’s Management

Reform Plan can be found on HUD’s

Home Page on the World Wide Web at

http://www.hud.gov, and the plan is

available at http://www.hud.gov/

reform/mrindex.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction and Background

On August 12, 1997 (62 FR 43204),

HUD published in the Federal Register

notice of the ‘‘HUD 2020 Management

Reform Plan.’’ The HUD 2020

Management Reform Plan is HUD’s plan

for significant management reforms at

the Department. This plan is directed to

restoring HUD’s reputation and

credibility by improving the efficiency

and effectiveness of the Department’s

programs, operations and delivery of

services. The restructuring of HUD’s

internal operations (as distinct from its

services to its constituency) is needed to

resolve a series of management

deficiencies identified by the Secretary,

the General Accounting Office, and the

Office of the Inspector General. The

restructuring of HUD’s internal

operations includes restructuring of the

Department’s Field Offices. Indeed,

HUD’s internal operations at its Field

Offices will undergo significant change

under the HUD 2020 Management

Reform Plan. The change is designed to

strengthen HUD’s field operations.

For some time, the Department has

needed to find new and more efficient

ways to carry out its mission because of

budget constraints and related

downsizing pressures. One strategy that

HUD will pursue in this connection is

the consolidation of certain internal

operations and moving the

responsibility for these operations to

field locations. Consolidation of

operations in field locations does not

constitute a novel way of doing

business. Many private sector

companies reorganized and restructured

under this type of model over a decade

ago. Models of this type in the financial

services industry are particularly

compelling and relevant to HUD. Over

the past decades, many banks, such as

Citibank and NationsBank, consolidated

their routine functions into centralized

‘‘back office’’ processing centers and

established ‘‘store-front’’ customer

offices closer to their markets. HUD’s

consolidated operation centers outlined

in the HUD 2020 Management Reform

Plan are based in part on these private

sector models.

Therefore, to address the

Department’s current outdated and

outmoded top-down Headquarters/Field

structure, the HUD 2020 Management

Reform Plan reallocates the

Department’s resources in a way that is

designed to strengthen HUD’s current 81

Field Offices, and improve service

delivery capacity. The plan does this by

creating at every Field Office a

Community Builder Staff with the

ability to provide the full range of HUD

programs, liaison, and customer services

to individuals, community

organizations, and governments. This

makes the Field Offices more customerfriendly and community-oriented. In

creating these offices, there is no

reduction or transfer in the location or

amount of services provided by the

Department to the recipients of its

services. Additionally, no offices are

being closed as a result of this

restructuring. The design of the plan is

for HUD’s 81 Field Offices to remain

and to be better focused in serving their

constituents. Section III of this notice

provides a cost-benefit analysis of the

new field structure.

II. Description of Changes

The HUD 2020 Management Reform

Plan will fundamentally alter the

structure of HUD and the way it serves

America’s communities. The current

field structure has State offices with a

staff of program-specific employees.

This structure will be replaced by Field

Offices staffed with Community

Builders and Public Trust Officers.

While none of the Field Offices will

close, their internal operations will

change dramatically, becoming

processing centers and new Service

Centers. In this way, HUD will maintain

an enhanced presence in the

communities while improving the

allocation of its resources.

Consolidated Operations Centers

The HUD 2020 Management Reform

Plan provides for the consolidation of

several major functions of the

Department. The most important

consolidation efforts involve creating

both department-wide and programspecific centers. Overall, the HUD 2020

Management Reform Plan calls for the

establishment of 17 types of

consolidated operation centers in the

field. The location of these centers

reflects a geographic balance throughout

the United States. The major

consolidations include an Enforcement

Center, a Real Estate Assessment Center,

Section 8 Financial Management Center,

Single Family Homeownership Centers

and the Chief Financial Officer’s (CFO)

Accounting Center. The specific

operations of these centers were

discussed in more detail in the August

12, 1997 Federal Register notice. (See

62 FR 43212–43213.)

The consolidation of operations and

functions in certain centers is

exclusively a redesign of internal

processing. While the consolidation

may include the transfer of certain

internal functions from Headquarters to

the field or from one Field Office to

another, there will be no impact on the

level of government services to the local

area since these functions by nature are

not location specific. Since the

consolidation of processing functions is

designed to speed processing times and

increase accuracy, the generalized

impact is expected to be beneficial to
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 225 / Friday, November 21, 1997 / Notice 62479

program customers, regardless of

geographic location. The establishment

of consolidated operations centers in the

field will bring HUD services closer to

the customers who need these services,

and closer to the customers who can

help ensure that HUD is making the best

decisions that it can with respect to its

services and operations. A complete list

of HUD’s Consolidated Operations

follows:

HUD’S CONSOLIDATED OPERATIONS CENTERS

Consolidated operation Function

Assessment Center ............................................. Standardizes the financial and physical evaluations of housing and public housing portfolios.

Enforcement Center ............................................ Takes aggressive action against troubled housing and public housing portfolios that fail physical and financial inspections, along with enforcement actions for FHEO and CPD grantees.

Section 8 Financial Management Center ........... Integrates and restructures the financial management systems and payment processes for all

Section 8 programs.

Title I Asset Recovery Center ............................. Manages the collection of deficiency balances owed to FHA as a result of buyer defaults.

FHA/Single Family Homeownership Centers (4) Manage insurance endorsements, technical reviews, underwriting, loss mitigation, marketing

and outreach, and lender monitoring.

Property Disposition Centers (2) ........................ Manage the foreclosure and disposition of HUD-owned and HUD-assigned properties.

FHA Multifamily Hubs (18) .................................. Supervise multifamily centers and administer all FHA multifamily mortgage insurance, direct

loan, and capital grant programs with the exception of Multifamily Property Disposition,

Processing of Rent Supplement and Section 8 Voucher/Monthly billings and coinsured

loans.

FHA Multifamily Program Operations Centers

(33).

Administer all FHA multifamily mortgage insurance, direct loan, and capital grant programs

with the exception of Multifamily Property Disposition, the processing of Rent Supplement

and Section 8 Voucher/Monthly Billings and coinsured loans.

Field Legal Centers (8) ....................................... Provide full range of legal services.

Field Legal Hubs (22) ......................................... Provide program specific legal services to Housing and PIH.

PIH Troubled Agency Recovery Centers (2) ...... Develop and implement strategies to improve the performance of troubled PHAs.

PIH Special Applications Center ......................... Administers the processing of PIH demolition/disposition, mixed-income allocation plans, and

5(h) Homeownership applications.

PIH Grants Processing Center ........................... Manages all aspects of competitive grants, as well as the public housing operating and capital

funds.

PIH Hubs (27) ..................................................... Supervise and perform all PIH functions within a defined geographic area, including program

performance, administration, technical assistance and compliance functions.

PIH Program Centers (16) .................................. Perform all PIH program performance, administration, technical assistance and compliance

functions.

Fair Housing Hubs (10) ...................................... Supervise all FHEO functions within a defined geographic area. Perform all FHEO compliance

and enforcement or complaint intake functions for the defined area.

Fair Housing Program Centers (18) ................... Perform all FHEO compliance and enforcement functions.

Fair Housing Local Sites (24) ............................. Perform all FHEO compliance and enforcement functions for a local jurisdiction.

Economic Development and Empowerment

Service.

Coordinates all HUD economic development and job skills programs to provide improved

focus on community empowerment.

Administrative Service Centers (3) ..................... Support Field Offices with such services as information technology, human resources, procurement and space planning.

Employee Service Center ................................... Handles all payroll, benefits and counseling services.

CFO Accounting Center ...................................... Manages all field program and administrative accounting operations.

HUD Area Office ................................................. In addition to being the location of one or more consolidated program operations hubs and

centers, Area Office operations will consist of community resource and liaison services for

public-private partnerships, marketing and outreach for homeownership, community and

economic development, technical assistance and general trouble-shooting. They will also

continue to perform the full range of field management functions.

Area Offices will continue to perform major management responsibilities (e.g. funding, policy

interpretation, monitoring and assistance) relating to FHEO, CPD, Housing, Public and Indian Housing Programs, as well as legal counsel and administrative support.

Community Service Center ................................. Coordinators and Community Builders, with direct linkages to consolidated program operations, will provide the broad range of HUD programs, liaison and customer services to

state, local and community organizations, that is, for public and assisted housing, homeownership, community and economic development, fair housing, technical assistance, public-private partnerships and complaints resolution.

Field Office Operations by Location

The restructuring of program

operations in the Field Offices is

designed substantially to increase the

current level and quality of service to

local communities. The HUD

Management Reform Plan states that ‘‘it

is paramount that HUD retain its scope

and presence in communities across the

country; HUD’s 81 Field Offices will

remain and be better focused in serving

their constituents.’’ The plan calls for

every HUD Field Office to have a

Community Service Center and the

establishment of community builders to

augment the quality and quantity of

service delivery to local communities.

With respect to the location of the

consolidated centers to be established

throughout the U.S., the general criteria

for determining the locations of these

centers are as follows:

Economy of Scale/Scope. Greater

workload productivity and customer

service by consolidating program

operations at one or more sites as

compared with current operations.

Projected Population Bases.

Anticipated location of future

customers, based on projected

metropolitan area growth.

Workload and Portfolio. Current/

anticipated concentration of program

workload portfolio.
62480 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 225 / Friday, November 21, 1997 / Notice

Location of Industry Partners. Sites

convenient to the Department’s primary

program users/facilities.

Accessibility. Convenience of travel/

transportation and other business

requirements.

Consolidation of functions is designed

to achieve consistency and uniformity

in the performance of these functions,

and to avoid duplication of effort and

streamline operations. Consistency and

uniformity make these functions easier

for HUD employees to perform, and

make HUD programs simpler and more

understandable for HUD’s program

participants. Under this restructuring of

internal, back office operations, there is

no reduction or transfer in the location

or amount of services provided by the

Department to the recipients of its

services as a result of the HUD 2020

Management Reform Plan. A complete

description of how HUD’s internal

operations will be structured at each

field location follows:

NEW HUD FIELD STRUCTURE LOCATIONS AND PROGRAM OPERATIONS

Location Proposed HUD operations

Albany ................................................................. Community Service Center, Local Administrative Support, Title I Asset Recovery Center.

Albuquerque ........................................................ Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Anchorage ........................................................... Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center,

Local Administrative Support.

Atlanta ................................................................. Administrative Service Center, Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair

Housing Hub, Fair Housing Program Center, FHA/Single Family Homeownership Center,

FHA Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Center, PIH Hub, Property Disposition Center.

Baltimore ............................................................. Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Program Center, FHA

Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Bangor ................................................................. Community Service Center.

Birmingham ......................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Boise ................................................................... Community Service Center.

Boston ................................................................. Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Hub, Fair Housing

Program Center, Federal Tort Claims Center, FHA Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Center,

Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Buffalo ................................................................. Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Burlington ............................................................ Community Service Center.

Camden ............................................................... Community Service Center.

Caribbean ............................................................ Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Fair Housing Local Site, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH

Hub.

Casper ................................................................. Community Service Center.

Charleston ........................................................... Community Service Center, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative

Support.

Chicago ............................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Employee Service Center, FHA

Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Center, Multifamily Quality Assurance Unit, PIH Special Applications Center, PIH Hub, Fair Housing Hub, Fair Housing Program Center.

Cincinnati ............................................................ Community Service Center, Local Administrative Support.

Cleveland ............................................................ Community Service Center, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Field Legal Hub, PIH

Troubled Agency Recovery Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Columbia ............................................................. Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Columbus ............................................................ Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Program Center, FHA

Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Coral Gables ....................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Program Center, FHA

Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH

Hub.

Dallas .................................................................. Community Service Center, Local Administrative Support.

Denver ................................................................. Administrative Service Center, Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair

Housing Hub, Fair Housing Program Center, FHA/Single Family Homeownership Center,

FHA Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Des Moines ......................................................... Community Service Center, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative

Support.

Detroit .................................................................. Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Program Center, FHA

Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Fargo ................................................................... Community Service Center.

Flint ..................................................................... Community Service Center.

Fort Worth ........................................................... Area Office, CFO Accounting Center, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair

Housing Hub, Fair Housing Program Center, FHA Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Center, Local

Administrative Support, PIH HUB, Property Disposition Center.

Fresno ................................................................. Community Service Center.

Grand Rapids ...................................................... Community Service Center, Local Administrative Support.

Greensboro ......................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Hartford ............................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Headquarters ...................................................... Assessment Center, Enforcement Center, PIH Grants Processing Center, Economic Development and Empowerment, Service.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 225 / Friday, November 21, 1997 / Notice 62481

NEW HUD FIELD STRUCTURE LOCATIONS AND PROGRAM OPERATIONS—Continued

Location Proposed HUD operations

Helena ................................................................. Community Service Center.

Honolulu .............................................................. Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center,

Fair Housing Local Site, Local Administrative Support.

Houston ............................................................... Community Service Center, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation

Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Indianapolis ......................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Jackson ............................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Jacksonville ......................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Kansas City, KS .................................................. Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Hub, Fair Housing

Program Center, FHA Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH

Hub.

Kansas City, MO ................................................. Section 8 Financial Management Center.

Knoxville .............................................................. Area Office, Community Service Center, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs

Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Las Vegas ........................................................... Community Service Center, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative

Support.

Little Rock ........................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Los Angeles ........................................................ Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Program Center, FHA

Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Louisville ............................................................. Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Program Center, FHA

Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Lubbock ............................................................... Community Service Center, Local Administrative Support.

Manchester ......................................................... Community Service Center, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative

Support.

Memphis .............................................................. Community Service Center, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH Troubled

Agency Recovery Center.

Milwaukee ........................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Minneapolis/St. Paul ........................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Nashville .............................................................. Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center,

Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

New Orleans ....................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Program Center, FHA

Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

New York City ..................................................... Administrative Service Center, Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair

Housing Hub, Fair Housing Program Center, FHA Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Center, PIH

Hub.

Newark ................................................................ Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Oklahoma City .................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Omaha ................................................................ Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Orlando ............................................................... Community Service Center.

Philadelphia ......................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Hub, Fair Housing

Program Center, FHA/Single Family Homeownership Center, FHA Multifamily Hub, Field

Legal Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Phoenix ............................................................... Community Service Center, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative

Support.

Pittsburgh ............................................................ Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

Portland ............................................................... Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Providence .......................................................... Community Service Center, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative

Support.

Reno .................................................................... Community Service Center.

Richmond ............................................................ Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Sacramento ......................................................... Community Service Center, Local Administrative Support.

Salt Lake City ...................................................... Community Service Center, Local Administrative Support.

San Antonio ........................................................ Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Hub.

San Diego ........................................................... Community Service Center, Local Administrative Support.

San Francisco ..................................................... Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Hub, Fair Housing

Program Center, FHA Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Center, Local Administrative Support,

PIH Hub.
62482 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 225 / Friday, November 21, 1997 / Notice

NEW HUD FIELD STRUCTURE LOCATIONS AND PROGRAM OPERATIONS—Continued

Location Proposed HUD operations

Santa Ana ........................................................... Community Service Center, FHA/Single Family Homeownership Center, Local Administrative

Support.

Seattle ................................................................. Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Hub, Fair Housing

Program Center, FHA Multifamily Hub, Field Legal Hub, Local Administrative Support, PIH

Hub.

Shreveport ........................................................... Community Service Center, Local Administrative Support.

Sioux Falls .......................................................... Community Service Center.

Spokane .............................................................. Community Service Center.

Springfield ........................................................... Community Service Center.

St. Louis .............................................................. Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, FHA Multifamily Programs Operation Center, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Tampa ................................................................. Community Service Center.

Tucson ................................................................ Community Service Center.

Tulsa ................................................................... Community Service Center, Local Administrative Support.

Washington, DC .................................................. Area Office, Community Service Center, CPD Field Office, Fair Housing Local Site, Local Administrative Support, PIH Program Center.

Wilmington .......................................................... Community Service Center.

III. Impact of Restructuring of Internal

Operations

HUD is publishing its cost-benefit

analysis of the reorganization with this

notice. (The reorganization of HUD

proposed by the HUD 2020 Management

Reform Plan does not result in the

closing of any HUD offices or in the

reduction of services. Therefore,

publication of this study is not required,

but HUD is publishing it as a matter of

policy to provide background for its

organizational decisions.) HUD

considered the costs and benefits that

the reorganization would have

particularly on HUD’s field operations

since the restructuring of internal

operations in the field is more profound

than in Headquarters. HUD’s analysis of

costs and benefits includes:

(1) An estimate of cost savings

supported by the background

information detailing the source and

substantiating the amount of the

savings;

(2) An estimate of the additional cost

which will result from the

reorganization;

(3) A study of the impact on the local

economy; and

(4) An estimate of the effect of the

reorganization on the availability,

accessibility, and quality of services

provided for recipients of those services.

A. Cost-Benefit Analysis

Former Secretary Henry Cisneros

committed to the Congress to reduce

personnel by 3,000 employees by or

near the year 2000. HUD intends to

honor that commitment, and the HUD

2020 Management Reform Plan targets

the year 2002 as the date by which the

reduction will be achieved. By the year

2002, HUD staff will be reduced from its

October 1, 1996 level of 10,500

employees to 7,500 employees. The

HUD 2020 Management Reform Plan

presents a new HUD that is staffed by

this workforce of 7,500 employees. This

restructuring of internal operations

presented in the HUD 2020 Management

Reform Plan is based on the principle

that HUD’s workload can be handled by

a reduced workforce. The consolidation

of functions is designed to make it

possible for a HUD workforce of 7,500

employees to handle effectively and

efficiently those functions that HUD

must carry out to serve its constituents

successfully.

Costs associated with the HUD 2020

Management Reform Plan amount to

$289 million. These costs are related to

employee buyouts and relocations,

facility modifications and information

technology for the new centers, and

contract support. Reform costs appear

only in fiscal years 1998 and 1999 and

would be entirely funded within budget

requests for those years.

Savings from the HUD 2020

Management Reform Plan begin to

accrue in fiscal year 1999 and are

primarily realized through reduced

personnel costs and related reduced

facilities needs. Figure 1 presents the

analysis of projected savings from

implementation of the Plan. The net

present value of savings computed

through fiscal year 2012 equates to $1.4

billion. Stated simply, the Department’s

planned spending for management is

less under the Plan than it otherwise

would have been. The value of those

savings through 2012 is $1.4 billion, in

today’s dollars.

Because the entire cost of reform will

be accommodated within the resources

already available or planned for the

Department, there is no additional cost

of the HUD 2020 Management Reform

Plan. The investments necessary to

achieve the reforms will be funded by

reallocations within the Department’s

existing budget or by savings generated

by the Plan. Hence, there is no recovery

period (as that term is commonly used).

B. Impact on Local Economies

The HUD 2020 Management Reform

Plan calls for significant redeployment

of HUD staff. Nonetheless, the proposed

reorganization will have only a minimal

economic impact on any single locality.

Moreover, HUD expects that as the

reforms contained in this Plan take

effect, positive economic effects will

accrue in all of the communities HUD

serves, due to the Department’s greater

efficiency and responsiveness to

addressing their needs.

C. Impact on the Quality of Services

The Department’s main goal in

implementing the HUD 2020

Management Reform Plan is to improve

the quality of services it provides and to

do so in the most efficient, fiscally

responsible manner possible. The

overall effect of the proposed reforms is

to change fundamentally the way HUD

works. These reforms will make the

agency more efficient, competent and

capable of carrying out HUD’s dual

mission—empowering communities and

restoring the public trust. HUD expects

that its ability to provide services that

facilitate community empowerment will

be improved through:

—Proposed legislative reforms to create

performance-based grants—many

communities’ planning processes are

hampered by the uncertainty

associated with the need to apply for

competitive grants funds each year.

The creation of performance-based

formula grant programs for homeless

assistance and Public and Indian

Housing will enable communities to

plan for their futures with an
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 225 / Friday, November 21, 1997 / Notice 62483

assurance of funding to make those

plans a reality.

—The Community Builder position—in

addition to other HUD staff, there will

be in every Field Office a cadre of

highly trained individuals who are

specifically dedicated to working with

HUD’s partners and customers in

helping them to access the full range

of HUD services. Since HUD will have

consolidated many program

operations into ‘‘back-office’’

processing centers away from the

Field Offices, these staff will be

focused only on helping communities

to address their housing and

community development needs.

Although there will be a reduction in

Field Office staff levels, much of this

reduction will be reflected in the

segregation of processing functions to

centers and hubs. Community

Builders—linked by state-of-the-art

technology to program centers, hubs,

back office processing centers, and

policy makers—will be responsible for

meeting their communities’ service

needs. This specialization will thus

enhance the public’s access to highquality services.

Other reforms—from the

consolidation of program operations to

the creation of the Enforcement Center

and legislative reforms to facilitate

enforcement actions—will improve the

quality of HUD services by

strengthening the integrity of the

underlying programs. Moreover, HUD’s

new Public Trust Officers will focus on

oversight, leaving other staff available to

provide customer service and

processing as their primary functions.

Thus, HUD expects to see improvements

in all aspects of departmental operations

and service delivery to the public.

IV. Conclusion

The HUD 2020 Management Reform

Plan states that ‘‘it is paramount that

HUD retain its scope and presence in

communities across the country; HUD’s

81 Field Offices will remain and be

better focused in serving their

constituents.’’ HUD’s plan calls for an

increase in area community service

centers and the establishment of

community builders to augment the

quality and quantity of service delivery

to local communities. Through

implementation of the HUD 2020

Management Reform Plan, HUD will

maintain its presence in the

communities while allocating resources

the way a customer-friendly Department

should.

Dated: November 18, 1997.

Andrew Cuomo,

Secretary.

BILLING CODE 4210–32–P
62484 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 225 / Friday, November 21, 1997 / Notice

[FR Doc. 97–30763 Filed 11-19-97; 10:24 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–32–C