GSA offered contractors tax breaks - at a price - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

It was a curious offer to contractors from a government agency: We'll give you a tax deduction for making federal buildings more energy efficient if you qualify and if you'll write us a check for 19 percent of the tax break's value.

The General Services Administration, already under a cloud for a lavish Las Vegas employee conference, says that after seven months, it dropped its demand for the giveback requirement because there were no takers.

But the policy is now raising new questions about whether GSA was trying to raise money for its own budget without congressional authorization, whether that effort was legal and whether other agencies have tried anything similar.

GSA officials said the practice was legal and a way for them to raise money to make additional federal buildings more energy efficient. GSA manages 9,600 federally owned or leased buildings, more than any other landlord, though some federal properties are owned by the Defense Department or other agencies.

A member of Congress sent letters Thursday to 17 agencies and Cabinet-level departments, including GSA, seeking details and asking whether others have engaged in similar practices.

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