NASA Inspector General Paul K. Martin today released a report that found while NASA has consolidated and timely transferred more than 40 business services to the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) since 2006, the transfer of accounts payable and receivable was delayed, resulting in $3.75 million in additional costs. In addition, three services that initially transferred to the NSSC (organizing health fairs, managing logistics related to recruiting, and arranging awards ceremonies) subsequently were returned to NASA Centers because of unexpectedly high costs.
Moreover, although NASA originally expected that approximately 200 civil service positions would be freed up from performing institutional support services and reassigned to “critical mission-related activities” as a result of the transfer of services to the NSSC, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that these employees were often placed in new positions or assigned to backfill positions in the same functional areas from which services had been transferred.
Finally, the OIG found that NASA’s claim that creation of the NSSC would save the Agency $121 million over a 10-year period (fiscal years 2006 through 2015) was based on flawed data and is therefore inaccurate. Our analysis determined that cost data supplied by the Centers, which was essential in determining the baseline cost calculations and return-on-investment projections, were not reliable or verifiable.
The OIG made four recommendations to NASA in the report, including ensuring that service transfers to the NSSC are cost effective and any resulting projected cost savings are supportable. NASA concurred with the OIG’s recommendations.
The full report can be found on the OIG’s website at http://oig.nasa.gov/ under “Reading Room” or at the following link: http://oig.nasa.gov/audits/reports/FY11/IG-11-013.pdf
