DEAR MR. SOCRETARY:

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85-00988R000600020046-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 23, 2002
• Sequence Number: 46
• Publication Date: February 9, 1970
• Content Type: LETTER

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OOMPtf OLI.Ct12 C,C:MCIUAL. OF? T64C UN17go DTA7l:N
D-163096
February. 9, 1970
Dear Mr. Cocrctary:
In considering H.R. 14794, the fiscal year 1970 opproprintion
bill for the Department of Transportation and related a.gcncicn, the
House Committee on..AppropriatiQnz requested that it be provided with
fic advice of the Comptroller General on the legality of the "perking
equnl.ization" plan contemplated by the Department of Trnn: portrrtion
incident to the phyraicnl consolidation of its headquarters activities
in two Southwest Washington, D.C., buildings: the Federal Office
Building 10A (FM Building) and the Nassif Building now being completed.
H. Rcpt. No. 91-642, November 13, lr>69, p. 9. Your letter of ',Tovern-
bcr 26, 1969, invites our attention to the request of the Committee and
to the need of the Department for an early resolution of the question
of the legality of the plan.
You are advised that the "parking equalization plan, whereby the
Department socks to make parking privileges available to its employees
at the same cost whether they be located in Federal Office Building
10A, a Government-o'rmed building, or in the Nassif Building, a privately
owned building located within two blocks of FOB ].0.A, is in our opinion
legally objectionable in that it does violence to the scheme of prop-
erty and financial control reflected in 40 U.S.C. 303b.
Briefly stated, the problem which the Department seeks to resolve
by the "parking equalization" plan stems from the fact that the parking
facilities in the Nassif Building ore, by a. lease of the building owner,
controlled and operated by a coranorcial automobile parking firm Parking
Management, Inc. (F"11), which apparently contemplates charging .$35.a
month for the parking of on individual car, whereas the current employee
parking fee at FOB 10A, operated by Government ServicesInc., under an
.ogrccuent with the General Services Administration, is ryo.25 a north.
To avoid such a. disparity in parking costa between employees working
in FOTl 101 and those in the Nossif Building, and any adverse effect
upon the operations of the Department from the lowering of morale due
to the apparent inequity pf the situation or the high cost of Nacrif
Building parking, the Department has been negotiating with Pail for the
firma operation of FOB 10A parking facilities together with those at
the Nassif Building "as a single facility" at a uniform rate paycble
by the Department's employees to l'NI: $23.25 per month for the first
year with annual #noreaaas of one dollar a month for the next 4 yearn.
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ifn,ic~? t'.he r.c?i~tc?~~7.n1;r~t nrc?nnt cmcrnt, tlhfrh the pennr.t;rtrrrf; wmvl~l e;i~;cr
Into by vtrWc oC n ctc7.eC;'rti.on of mnnn; ~rnrnt; nut;hority Vrnrn i;lie 'rr'n' rnl
crvicc , A(1r,Un1?tr;tion, Pl'NiI is to isnuc '175 pnrkl.nr, contrr,;i.n for FOB
1O,1 rncl 1300 parkin? contrneta for the 11'a:tnif Tsui tding to r_n lo;fr'rs
npccifi.ecl by tho Department. This in essence in the "parking cquili-
zation" plan.
In nn opinion dated November 2I., 1969, furnir;hcd with your letter
of Novcnbcr 26, 1969, the General Counsel of the Department stated:
"no low or regulation of which we ore aware requires. that
pnrkinr arr, ngrrtcnts be rondo scp-i.xatcly for wash building
or Mmits the Secretary's discretion to rnannge parking
facilities in separate budding;. on D. common basis. It
mir;ht be argued that the legality of the plnn in qucs-
tionnble in that it would result in a private contractor
receiving funds for space utilized in a Government-owned
building far in excess of any service rendered by the
contractor. Thin argument would have validity, however,
only if these DOT employees who will happen to bo assigned
to work in FOB 10A are vie-..red as a class som, cho:?r separate
and apart from their collcogucs who happen to be assigned
to work in the Na ssif Building, end if one ignorer: the
fact that the service rendered by the contractor relates
to both FOB 1OA and the Nassif Building."
Although we agree with the General Counsel that Department employees
assigned to work in FOB 1OA should not be viewed as a class apart from
tho e a ;sipped to work in the P;assif Building, and that there should not
be ignored the fn.et that the service to be rendered by the contractor
? would relate tb both FOB 14A and the Nassif Building, we are of the view
that the "single facility" concept nought to be advanced, which combines
Federal parking facilities together with private facilities. on the basis
of a co-.anon operator, is seriously questionable in that it ignores the
fact that the principal ingredient of a parking facility is space, an
clement of the property involved, not the services of on operator or on'
attendant. This is no whether the parking accommodations ore public or
private. wince the fees to be collected go .beyond a realistic chsr:.e
-~to .manncnenf,. aervi ccao be perf~icd and necessarily involve:
Federal property is
t
,'the fact ha
revenues from the use of property
nvolved cannot`be"ignored,
We view the Conte fated agreement with , u ile couched :err
an
of tanagemant servicoz as Doceasarily eoa2or g
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a lcn: cholcl intorer t Fran 1-1hich revenucu are derived, in
o
l
'
ff
c :iri
ccn Lh1t e
contravention of Ito t1.>.C._ 3Q ?,_4i1?:t9 ni: -~?7_a
~1?.iit_SI_ i~atc:. i+i~aocz pica .Ball be for a r~oncy cons iclcrn.1:ion only and
Lr:
ccllnncoua
r?onc;, s no derived shall b - cover - -iuto ?t he Tres?cury nn rn
re?ccs~pLs Wo may nlsa odd tlaat in the eb:cnca of ct;a~;utory rju~hari'cy
zcl'c:~or zrr. ccncra.ily would view 00 unauthorized the u ,Q Of Federal
proiacrty to help finance the procurement of private aorvlcea. sec 31
U.S.C. 434 end 1af37.
Your Letter n.lco rcfern to nno1;hor quc3tion rained in the Co, mittco' a
consideration of the lensing of the Nancif Building on which you rerluect
our views. 1T1hethcr in that situ^?tion, involving a twenty-ycor lc,-t.:-,c of
nine floors plus storogo space of a ten-story office building loco.tccl in
a hirizly cone c: ted urban arca and uacd as a dc}parLvenvo1 hejdqu-j?r,;erc
building, bppropriated funds may be used to provide :space for cmnloycc
prnkinC, in the ba?scmcnt or cub-?bacomentc of the building. An opinion
on this question has also been infernally requested by the Gencral Scrv-
ices Administration whose leasing function is involvocl. it may be noted
that while the parking facilities in the Massif Building have been leaned
to a private fire, also for a tor, of twenty years, the question of au-
tchority to procure space for e-mp1oyce parking is not con3idcrcd root as
we undcratand. w hero is ho possi"a31ity of 'subxeasin space for that
?. purpose.
The Federal Property end Administrative Services Act of 191+9, as
amenced authorizes the General Services Administrator to enter into
i
lease ogrecrannts for periods not in excess of twenty years "on such tcm
w.? as he dC'rIs to be. in the in4eres~ of the._L?~iteci States and ~~ec:osc:ry for
rthc accoz.modrtion of Federal agencies in buildings and improvcncnts
a.nd to asGicn and rear nigh space therein to Fedcro.l agencies." >aG U.S.C..
`"490(1?)(;)w In the exercise of the leasing and space a c iraenv unctions
the l~driinistrator is governed by such policies and directives as may be
prescribed by the President. ho U.S.C. 1186(n.). To the extent that the
appropriations of the Gencral Services AcAministration are inadequate
therefor, "tlzc__Aclmini .tra.tor.. o>" Gcncral_,-Se-rvices may. ,require each Federal
cf ya.-trhich. ].eased space has been assigned to pay promptly by chec1L
cppr(o~p~/ria-
-to the..A-h inistrator of General. Services out of its available ,at? 886
._~ "
tio:~:;...'~ ?^ ~'~ IEO V.S.C. 301 c(c , act of Auc,us ~ti27; 1935; 1~9 Stat.
emended. See, also, bureau of the Budget Circular A-11, ccc. 13.5(1)
i
es.
on reimbursement of General Services ministration by tenant agenc
In connection with the quo ;tion of the availability of approprie.tod
Elands to provide leased facilities for crnployco parking, reference has
rcpeatcdly boon made, to a docisioa of this 0f 'ice, 43 Comp. Gen. 131,
02
s
0
0
200
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NOW -
I1-l (',~ripck;
ro-mlrrotl Au(vit 5, 19630 to thc~ ^ncro'tnry of the Trennurrj. That rlr;ci-
.!ton r.oal,;tdered the caur;.tton of vahn(her the Comrnnnclnnt of the Cori nt
(lttnr%l, mmlor hia nu'~hiortty to equip, op^rntn, maintain, nu-" , "nil
rejiiir Co-rt (;anal di:;trictn nail nhnre er.t'nhl.i:;hnent;r (:1.1F 11..i.C. ?(~))?
any lcr' :c n plot of 1:onrl ncl'jncout to the Conn(; Guard Drr;;e at
1401)ile,
Al.r~bnma, and expend ~,ppropr. iated funcla to prcpnre the Inrid for uro on
an e;iiploycc pnrltin g lot. In ,juctifiention for the proponcd u^e of
npproprintcd funds it vin;. explained that the Dane wn.s located in a
badly deteriorated former cor,urercinl area without ndequnte public trnnr,-
portation and having virtually no parking apace on or off nearby atrcctn.
The total personnel involved was 181, only a port of which wn.; permanently
assigned to the Ilnae, and the number of vehiclec to be a.cco;; ;odated each
day ranged from 85 to 100 which had to be perked in a. wide nren. around
the Ilnse. We held in that ease the record did not establish the pro-
posed parking lot was esaontial to the operation or maintenance of the
line co as to warrant the use of appropriated funds for a purpose that
ordinarily was considered the responsibility of the individual, the
parking of his private vehicle.
We consider the decision of 1063 to have little relevance to the
present situation. Factually, the earlier case turned primarily on the
record presented. There is little if any similarity between the two
cores except that they involve the growitn? urban probler of motor vehicle
parking. Legally there was not considered in that case the leaning ?
authority of the General Services Administration under the Federal Prop-
erty and Administrative Services Act.
The' position is odvnnced in s rtcraorandurn dated June 21, 1968, of
the then General Counsel of the Department of Transportation and, con.-
curred in by the present General Counsel, a copy of which was for:aardcd
?,with your letter, that in determining the space requirements of on nGencyD
and whether employee parking facilities are to be provided, the policies
for the assi&-iment of office buildings rand space proscribed in Executive
Order 11035, July 9, 1962, issued pursuant to the Federal Property and
Admini trative Services Act, are controlling. The mc;norandum skated in
part:
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"The policies and directives governing the exercise of
the Administrator's authority were prescribed by the
President in Executive Order No. 11035 (27 F.R. 6519).
The Executive Order requires, among other things, that
the Administrator be guided, o o a primary consideration,
by the need for the efficient performance of tho agencies ?
ro.i.ssions and p:cogroras 'with duo regard for the. . .
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