Review of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Accountability for Property

As a result of a congressional request, we audited CDC's Property Management System (property system) and found that it was neither accurate nor complete. Based on our sample results, we estimated that CDC had lost or misplaced approximately $8.2 million worth of Government property as of September 30, 2007. Furthermore, CDC did not add all newly acquired property to the property system or record items in the property system at the correct amounts. We estimated that the property system was understated by approximately $1.5 million for purchases made during FY 2007. These inaccuracies occurred because CDC did not always adjust the property system to reflect the results of an annual physical inventory and did not barcode all newly acquired property for entry in the property system. Based on these continuing problems with property accountability, we concluded that CDC had not fully implemented the recommendations in our 1995 report to strengthen management controls over property.

We recommended that CDC improve its controls over property by (1) adjusting the property system based on annual physical inventory results and removing from the property system any lost or missing property, including the estimated $8.2 million worth that we identified; (2) ensuring that all newly acquired property items, including at least $1.5 million worth of items acquired in FY 2007, are barcoded and correctly added to the property system; and (3) reconciling the general ledger to the property system to identify any outstanding discrepancies and resolving such discrepancies. CDC concurred with our recommendations.