| Military urged to revisit
how housing allowances are determined and explained By Adam Ramirez, Stars and Stripes
The
military needs to improve the way it sets housing rates as well as find a better way to
explain changing rates to servicemembers, according to a recent government report.
A review of
how the Department of Defense sets housing rates by the U.S. General Accounting Office
revealed that when the military changed the way it determined how much money people would
get to live on, some families didn’t get enough money to cover their rent and
utilities.
The report
went on to say rates were set too low in some places when DOD changed to using each
servicemember’s rank to determine his housing costs. It questioned whether the new
system was fair.
In January
2000, many housing allowance rates dropped because of the new system. Before, DOD based
rates primarily on servicemembers’ housing costs in each geographic area.
But when
the rates changed, housing offices around the military found themselves unprepared to
answer the simplest query: Why?
"When
members questioned how their rates were determined, officials cannot provide specific
details, such as the local housing and utility cost estimates used," the report
stated.
"That
doesn’t surprise me — when I was in Georgia the rates kept changing and I
couldn’t always get the place I wanted," said an Army sergeant who lives near
Ramstein Air Base. "It’s hard to figure out what you can get and then, if
it’s suddenly too low, you have to pay the difference. It’s like they pick a
number out of the air."
In order to
build servicemembers’ confidence, the report suggests the defense department develop
a way to keep installation officials better informed on how final housing rates are
determined.
"Because
DOD does not now routinely provide this information, local managers lack assurance that
the rates are well supported and calculated correctly," the report states.
Other areas
of concern include:
Whether
the standards associated with each military rank is, in fact, appropriate.
Whether
standards should be the same for members living in privately owned and government-owned
housing.
While the
new system may have some glitches, the report commended the defense department for fixing
problems soon after they cropped up.
When the
money disappeared for some servicemembers, the report said, the defense department
responded quickly.
"In
view of its findings, DOD decided in March 2000 to revert to the higher 1999 rates in all
areas where rates had decreased," the report stated.
The DOD
agreed with the recommendation and said they "believe the January 2001 rates are fair
and accurate in all areas of the country."
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