DOD Installation Services: Action Needed to Improve Oversight of Intergovernmental Support Agreements

What GAO Found

Based on data provided by the military services, GAO found that the services’ use of intergovernmental support agreements (IGSA) with state, local, and tribal government entities (public partners) for installation-support services increased from 45 across all DOD installations in 2018 to 316 in 2025. Officials from DOD, the Army and Navy, and selected military installations said they intend to promote future IGSA use.

However, military services’ estimates of cost savings did not reflect best practices for cost estimation, which raises questions about their completeness and reliability. Further, the military services’ guidance related to estimating costs and cost savings did not include specific guidance for prospective IGSAs that provided multiple services to one or more installations. Selected cost estimates GAO reviewed did not fully consider the scope of services that could be performed at various locations under these agreements. Further, some agreements GAO reviewed did not have associated cost estimates or cost-benefit analyses. Without guidance, the military services may incorrectly estimate IGSA costs and have limited information that would help ensure prospective IGSAs are in the best interests of the military. Further, the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force did not have procedures to verify installations’ cost and cost savings estimates or revise them if needed. Without complete information on actual IGSA costs and cost savings, the services cannot verify that estimates reflect actual costs, in line with best practices.

Public partners involved in nine of the 21 single-installation IGSAs that GAO reviewed used private contractors to perform some of or all the work. The McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) requires employees providing services to the federal government to be paid in accordance with prevailing wage rates for such employees in their locality but does not apply to IGSAs. GAO compared minimum wages associated with a nongeneralizable sample of five positions performing work under IGSAs with the minimum wages that may be required for comparable work performed under the SCA. GAO found that the differences between the minimum wages varied.

Comparison of Minimum Hourly Wages Offered by Public Partners to Minimum Hourly Wages Required Under the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) for Selected Similar Positions

Source: GAO analysis of wage data provided from public partners and wage determinations from SAM.gov. | GAO-26-108092

Why GAO Did This Study

In 2013, federal law authorized the military services to enter into IGSAs with state, local, and tribal government entities to receive, provide, or share installation-support services, such as utilities and waste management.

GAO was asked to examine the military’s use and oversight of IGSAs, and the labor used under these agreements. This report provides information on the military’s use of IGSAs since 2018, the services’ monitoring of IGSA benefits, public partners’ use of contractors for work under IGSAs, and how wages paid under selected IGSAs may compare with those required for comparable work under the SCA.

GAO reviewed IGSA-related guidance and analyzed data on IGSA use as of December 2025. Further, GAO reviewed documentation related to 21 IGSAs held by five installations selected based on factors such as military service involved and the number of IGSAs held. GAO also reviewed the cost-benefit analyses associated with 10 IGSAs for multiple services at one or more installations and compared these analyses to best practices for cost estimation. Further, GAO interviewed DOD and local government officials and compared wage information for selected positions under IGSAs to those wages that may be required for other types of agreements under the SCA.