The Federal Real Estate Board was a United States federal agency established in 1921 within the Treasury Department to manage federal properties (excluding public lands such as

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and

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

land), with its purpose being to reduce expenses by coordinating the use of

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

across federal agencies. It was active in the

Harding Harding may refer to: People *Harding (surname) *Maureen Harding Clark (born 1946), Irish jurist Places Australia * Harding River Iran * Harding, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province South Africa * Harding, KwaZulu-Natal United Sta ...

and Coolidge administrations. A different board of the same name was active during the

Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Rooseve ...

and Truman administrations. This time, the board was primarily tasked to study the impact on state and local governments of the loss of

tax revenue Tax revenue is the income that is collected by governments through taxation. Taxation is the primary source of government revenue. Revenue may be extracted from sources such as individuals, public enterprises, trade, royalties on natural resou ...

due to the exemption from

taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal person, legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regiona ...

of the vast federal real estate holdings. It also sought to mitigate such damages by encouraging the sale of surplus property and minimizing the acquisition of additional property. Today federal buildings, among other resources, are managed by the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...

First Federal Real Estate Board (1922)

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by President

Warren Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. ...

on November 8, 1921, called for the creation of various boards "to promote economy and efficiency in the routine business and administration of the Government", and "in the application of uniform business principles and methods to the expenditure of public funds". Under this order, the Federal Real Estate Board was created on February 18, 1922, to "coordinate the activities of the Government relative to the purchase, sale, and rental of real property". It first met on April 14 of that year. The creation of the board was lauded by the

National Association of Real Estate Boards The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is an American trade association for those who work in the real estate industry. It has over 1.4 million members, making it one of the biggest trade associations in the USA including NAR's institutes, so ...

, who had been advocating for improvements in the government's methods of managing federal real estate. The association said creation of the board "meets with the hearty approval of Realtors"; it tendered its service to the government to aid in the acquisition, leasing, and disposition of property for the government. The board was led by the Surveyor General of Real Estate and included a representative of every federal department that owned, occupied, or otherwise controlled federal real estate. In its first year, the board effected the location of federal agencies into government-owned buildings in some large cities and planned to meet future growth by using surplus property before making new acquisitions. The board was focused on addressing a problem caused by the lack of coordination of real estate needs across different departments and agencies. It approved over 1000 property leases and the sale of several properties. In 1922, the board created a standard

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

to be used by the Federal Government. The board asked the National Association of Real Estate Boards to review the lease, to insure it was "uniformly just to the owner and to the government".

Reports

A June 30, 1923, report by the board chairman reported that the board had already found underutilized real estate due to there having been no prior coordination between departments and agencies. It recommended that the board undertake a forecast of all real estate needs for a ten-year period, and specify standardized space requirements for administrative functions. It reported that the board had approved over 2500 leases, approved the sale of 100 properties, and approved the purchase of 24 others. It also determined that the value of federal property was $1,179,778,031 not including public lands. By June 30, 1924, the total value of property was $1,542,655,511 and the board had completed compiling the records on all property. In the prior year, over 2000 leases were approved; the board noted that lease amounts—rent paid by the government—on a number of post offices were increasing. The board coordinated the transfer of

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property no longer needed by the Department of War to other departments; it also coordinated the sale of any such property. The 1924 report also noted that the War Department, Navy Department,

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, and the

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already had well-functioning central departments of real estate that could provide the board with information on their properties; the report urged other departments to create such units. The board's 1925 annual report was similar, noting the approval of over 3,200 leases, rising rents, and approval of 23 purchases and 81 sales, mostly for the military. It noted the transfer of part of

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from the War Department to the

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, and the sale of 23 military reservations in

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. The 1926 report continued detailing the leases approved, as well as property bought and sold. It announced new policies in an attempt to save more money: the board would not approve new leases if there was suitable space available in an existing building; if there was any question about suitability, the burden to prove the space was not suitable was with the agency requesting new space; the board's second new policy was that 100 square feet of space for an official, and 60 square feet for subordinates was sufficient. The board's 1927 report, in addition to documenting leases and summarizing rent increases, noted the transfer of the

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from the Department of Interior to the Department of Agriculture. It also announced even tighter procedures to be followed to request additional space, with the aim of further savings in rent paid by the Federal Government.

Membership

The chairman for many years was

James A. Wetmore James Alfonso Wetmore (November 1863 – March 14, 1940) was an American lawyer and administrator, best known as the Acting Supervising Architect of the U.S. Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department from 1915 through 1933 ...

. Representation on the board was as follows: *The vice-chairman and secretary represented the War and Navy Departments, the largest owners of federal properties. *The other members of the board represented the following federal departments: ** Department of Agriculture **

Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...

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Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

** Treasury Department **

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

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Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

** United States Office of Public Buildings and Grounds **

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United States Railroad Administration The United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was the name of the nationalisation, nationalized railroad system of the United States between December 28, 1917, and March 1, 1920. It was the largest American experiment with nationalization, and ...

United States Veterans' Bureau The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

Second Federal Real Estate Board (1939)

The second board was established by

Executive Order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of th ...

8304 of January 14, 1939, and abolished by Executive Order 10287 of September 6, 1951.

Background

On December 17, 1935, during a meeting of the

National Emergency Council The Executive Office of the President (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The EOP consists of several offices and agenci ...

, President

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

ordered a study on the effect of the ownership of

by the United States on the real estate tax revenue of state and local government. The study was to be performed by a committee comprising the

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

, the

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, and the

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

of the

Bureau of the Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, poli ...

. The committee considered the loss of tax revenue to state and local governments to be a serious problem due to the large amount of federally-owned property exempt from taxation. It made no recommendations on compensation for loss of tax revenue on federal property and limited its function to assessing the amount and value of federal property and the resulting lost tax revenue of the property. The study, completed in 1939, made several recommendations: *All federal agencies should analyze the real estate under their control and identify any surplus property that could be sold or put to another use. *All records of all real estate should be maintained by the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department. *A Federal Real Estate Board should be established with three main objectives: **Make recommendations about areas (state, county, local) with significant loss of tax revenue due to substantial amounts of federally-owned (non-taxed) land. **Review proposed real estate acquisitions. **Make recommendations regarding the sale of surplus real estate. Roosevelt created the board by executive order. The board was to consist of a representative of every government agency "in charge of considerable holdings of Federal income-producing property", as well as representatives from the Procurement Division and the Bureau of the Budget.

1943 Report

The board issued a report entitled "Federal Contributions to State and Local Governmental Units with Respect to Federally Owned Real Estate". In this report, the board considered compensating for loss of property tax revenue on federal property, and concluded the simplest solution would be to let the property be taxed the same as privately owned property. But it rejected this as inequitable because federal property often provided local community benefits that private property did not. It felt instead that compensatory federal payments in lieu of taxes for certain classes of property would be equitable. The board said that property that provided general government administration and local services, such as office buildings, post offices, courthouses, customs offices, and mints should be exempt from taxation or compensation. Also exempt were properties used for the care of people, such as quarantine stations, narcotics farms, immigration stations, reformatories, hospitals, and cemeteries. With regard to property used for national defense, the board said compensation should be made for properties acquired after September 8, 1939.

Truman administration

On July 5, 1949, President

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

vetoed Senate Bill 41, which would have paid the city of

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

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, $1,620 for street improvements made near a property owned by the

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. Truman acknowledged that some jurisdictions suffered hardships due to loss of tax revenue on federally-owned property, but stated such property was exempt under the doctrine of intergovernmental immunity. Truman went on to say that special consideration for Reno would encourage further such requests; a general program addressing all federally-owned property, as recommended by the board in 1943, should be pursued by Congress instead. Truman abolished the board by Executive Order 10287 of September 6, 1951.

Membership

The board included representatives of: *

Federal Works Agency The Federal Works Agency (FWA) was an independent agency of the federal government of the United States which administered a number of public construction, building maintenance, and public works relief functions and laws from 1939 to 1949. Along wit ...

(Public Buildings Administration) *

* Department of the Treasury *

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* Department of Agriculture *

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National Housing Agency The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web, title=Message to Congress Establishing the Federal Real Estate Board, url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=15693, website=The American Presidency Project, accessdate=22 July 2017 {{cite journal, last1=Hall, first1=R. Clifford, title=Introduction to the Federal Real Estate Board Report , journal=Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Taxation Under the Auspices of the National Tax Association, date=November 1943, volume=36, pages=72–79 , jstor=23405074, publisher=National Tax Association {{cite book, title=Annual Report of the Director of the Bureau of the Budget to the President, date=1922, publisher=United States Bureau of the Budget, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=971IAQAAIAAJ, accessdate=22 July 2017 {{cite journal, title=Annual Report by President Heitt, journal=National Real Estate and Building Journal, date=June 19, 1922, volume=23, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OxkyAQAAMAAJ, accessdate=23 July 2017 {{cite book, title=United States Government Manual, date=1945, publisher=Division of Public Inquiries – Office of War Information, location=Washington D.C., url=https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ATO/USGM/FWA.html, accessdate=23 July 2017 {{cite web, title=Public Papers, Harry S. Truman, Veto of Bill for the Relief of the City of Reno, Nevada, url=https://www.trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/index.php?pid=1163&st=&st1=, website=trumanlibrary.org, accessdate=23 July 2017 {{cite web, title=Executive Orders, Harry S. Truman, EXECUTIVE ORDER No. 10287 REVOKING EXECUTIVE ORDER No. 8304 OF JANUARY 14, 1939 AND ABOLISHING THE FEDERAL REAL ESTATE BOARD, Nevada, url=https://www.trumanlibrary.org/executiveorders/index.php?pid=259&st=&st1=, website=trumanlibrary.org, accessdate=23 July 2017 {{cite journal, title="Uncle Sam Preparing Standard Lease", journal=National Real Estate and Building Journal, date=December 4, 1922, volume=23, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OxkyAQAAMAAJ, accessdate=23 July 2017 Establishments by United States executive order 1939 in American law 1921 in American law Real estate in the United States