GSA sets conservative revenue increase for 2008

General Services Administration officials predict a conservative 4 percent increase in revenue, or $348 million, over fiscal 2007.

On the heels of a turbulent period for the agency, the Federal Acquisition Service forecasts stable revenues for fiscal 2007 and 2008. The budget justification “is based on a frank assessment of past business performance and realistic assumptions about the future,” according to a budget briefing document provided by GSA.

“We do want to emphasize that that [the FAS] budget is balanced again in 2007 and 2008,” said Debi Schilling, GSA’s budget director, during the briefing Feb. 6 with reporters.

Additionally, funding requests for critical FAS programs, such as the soon-to-be-awarded Networx, are at levels that will meet customer demands and program delivery, she said.

Forecasters’ “conservative estimate of revenues reflects the continuing efforts to build the new FAS organization [and] reviews of all of the product and service offerings of the legacy organizations that form FAS,” the briefing document states.

In fiscal 2006, GSA had negative revenue numbers after an unexpected downturn in business volume in its former Federal Technology Service, which combined with the Federal Supply Service to form FAS. Fiscal 2007 and 2008 revenue forecasts reflect these business problems. Officials reduced revenue estimates for fiscal 2007 and made inflation-only revenue increases for 2008, according to the budget document.

The budget proposal also scrubs 10 to 15 ongoing projects agency officials deemed unnecessary, such as the costly Enterprise Customer Relations Management project. The cuts total about $50 million in savings, said Kathleen Turco, GSA’s chief financial officer.

“We identified programs that weren’t working and cut them entirely,” GSA Administrator Lurita Doan said in an opening statement. She said the line-by-line reviews were new to some at GSA. Almost all divisions had to make cuts.

Overall, the fiscal 2008 budget request for GSA includes $20.1 billion. All but $561 million is funded through revolving fund revenues for goods and services purchases, rent paid for space in GSA-owned and leased buildings, and other customer reimbursements, according to agency officials.