DOD Personnel: Improvements Made to Housing Allowance Rate-Setting Process
Abstract
About two-thirds of the married and one-third of the single servicemembers in the United States live in private housing in the communities surrounding military installations. These members are given a cash housing allowance, called the basic allowance for housing, to help defray the cost of renting or buying housing. In fiscal year 2000, housing allowances totaled about $6.0 billion and covered about 81 percent of the typical member's housing and utility costs, with the member paying the remaining costs out-of-pocket. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal Year 1998 required the Department of Defense (DOD) to make changes in the allowance program intended to better match the allowance rates with the actual costs of local housing in various geographic areas of the country. DOD began these changes in January 1998 and planned to implement them over a 6 year period ending in 2003. DOD officials knew that the changes would cause some rates to rise and others to decline. However, in January 2000, rate decreases outnumbered the increases and were substantial in some cases. Compared to 1999 levels, rates declined by over $200 a month for some servicemembers, and DOD decreased rates in some areas in which housing costs were rapidly increasing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA388436
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office