Federal Reports

This report details the results of our audit of Trademark’s controls and use of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) Activity-Based Information (ABI) system. Specifically, our objectives were to review allocation algorithms and controls of the ABI system and determine whether Trademark’s use of ABI justifies and supports fee changes.

This report provides the results of our audit of the effectiveness of the Census Bureau’s unliquidated obligation (ULO) review policies and procedures developed in response to an OIG audit report issued in June 2013 (OIG-13-026-A). In that report, we concluded that Department-wide controls over the management of ULOs needed strengthening. Further, effective management of outstanding obligation balances allows agencies to review and deobligate unneeded funds, promoting a better use of federal resources.

This report addresses the status of the Census Bureau’s (the bureau’s) 2020 Census program preparation and planning efforts. Our audit objectives were to (1) assess the methods and costs of continuously updating the Master Address File Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing database (MTdb);(2) determine how efforts, such as the fiscal year (FY) 2015 Address Validation Test (AVT), support the accuracy of the Master Address File; and (3) evaluate the preparation of the Local Update of Census Address (LUCA) program for the 2020 decennial census. This report focuses on risks identified for objectives 2 and 3 to provide timely recommendations for the bureau’s operational design decisions. We reported on the results of objective 1 subsequent to the completion of additional fieldwork.

To reimburse the Postal Service for unpaid amounts for revenue forgone, Congress promised to pay the Postal Service $29 million a year from 1994 through 2035 without interest. Starting in FY 2011, the $29 million payments were reduced or skipped for 4 years. They have now resumed, but there is a risk that payments could stop again. If payments stop permanently, the Postal Service will have to declare a bad debt on its bottom line. One solution is to offset the remaining amount owed with interest, $1.6 billion, against the Postal Service’s current debt to the Treasury.