Variable Housing Allowance: Rate Setting Criteria and Procedures Need to Be Improved

Abstract

Congress authorized the uniformed services to begin paying a variable housing allowance in October 1980, and it became an entitlement on September 30, 1981. The variable housing allowance is currently based on the amounts military members say they pay for housing. GAO disagrees with this basis for rate setting because it has a built-in propensity for cost growth and the potential for abuse. If the current basis is retained, however, GAO believes that procedures should be revised and clarified. GAO found that the fiscal year 1981 allowances tended to favor officers and senior enlisted members. GAO recommends that the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel and Compensation either introduce legislation to revise the basis for setting variable housing allowance rates, or clarify various aspects of the current basis.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 1981
Accession Number
ADA108449

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Congress
  • Data Analysis
  • Databases
  • Department Of Defense
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Geographic Regions
  • Governments
  • House Of Representatives
  • Law
  • Local Governments
  • Military Personnel
  • Noncommissioned Officers
  • Regression Analysis
  • Statistics
  • Surveys
  • United States
  • Warrant Officers

Readers

  • Housing Policy Studies in Military Families with Privatization and Telomerase Allowance Units, Multi-Family Housing, and Telomere Lengths.
  • Organizational Psychology.
  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting