DEFERRED MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS AS AN INDICATOR OF FACILITY CONDITION
FASAB Standard Number 6, as amended, implies that the dollar value of deferred maintenance is a surrogate (estimate) for management 's ability to maintain facilities. Although the existence of deferred maintenance may indicate that the quality and reliability of services are substandard, calculating a dollar figure for deferred maintenance and repairs does not indicate how well facilities are performing or their overall condition (operating performance). Because of the variations in size, composition, and value of facility inventories, a dollar amount alone does not place the number in context with the size or value of an individual agency's facilities inventory and it does not allow for comparisons across agencies. A single dollar amount also does not indicate whether agencies are using their available maintenance and repair funds efficiently or effectively or provide an indication of whether the government's financial situation has improved or deteriorated (stewardship). In the committee's opinion, deferred maintenance and repairs would be a more meaningful indicator if it is (1) used in conjunction with other indicators, (2) derived by each agency in a consistent manner over time and (3) tracked over a period of time so that trends can be observed. In Chapter 4, the committee identifies some potential indicators that might be used in conjunction with deferred maintenance and repairs. This issue, however, requires further study.
REFERENCE
The Urban Institute . 1994 . Issues in Deferred Maintenance: The Federal Infrastructure Strategy Program . Alexandria , VA : Institute for Water Resources Publications .
