the operations of the Office of the Superintendent of Documents, which include the statutory requirement of inspection by the Superintendent of Documents of the condition of depository libraries, which now number 594. 22 Transportation of things: Estimate, 1962___. Estimate, 1963_ Increase. $1,600 1, 600 None This expenditure covers the cost of transporting sales publications ordered by Members of Congress for local delivery and deliveries to branch bookstores of the Office of the Superintendent of Documents in Washington, D.C. 23 Rents, communications, and utilities: Estimate, 1962_. Increase. $70, 500 70, 500 None Funds in the object classification are used principally for payment of postage to the Post Office for necessary official correspondence, for telephone and telegraph service, and they also cover charges for heat, light, and power. The cost details in this object classification are as follows: No appropriation is required for the printing of publications offered for sale by the Office of Superintendent of Documents, as the cost of these publications is paid from sales receipts. We are, however, charged by law with the function of furnishing free of charge upon request one copy of each publication not confidential in nature printed by the Government Printing Office, to each of the 594 designated depository libraries throughout the United States. Another statute requires us to compile and issue catalogs and indexes covering all Government publications. The principal item of expenditure under this classification is the purchase of publications for distribution to depository libraries. Based on current expenditures, we estimate that the amount required for this purpose for the entire fiscal year 1962 will exceed the budget estimate of $429,000 by $188,960. With the approval of the Public Printer, this amount has been allocated from the reserve for contingencies to the account for purchase of depository copies. The increased costs are primarily a result of the increase in the volume of publications distributed to depository libraries which, for the first 8 months of this fiscal year, is approximately 20 percent above distribution for the comparable period of the previous fiscal year. There has also been some advance in the cost of printing and paper. The additional publications required to be sent to depository libraries are due largely to the printing of the final material resulting from the 1960 census. We are including in our overall estimates for printing and reproduction, fiscal 1963, the same amounts for the purchase of depository copies that we requested for the current fiscal year, in the belief that the sharply increased volume of printing necessary for depository distribution in 1962 will show some decline. If our estimates are again low in this category, the continued availability of the reserve for contingencies should enable us to meet this expense. 25 Other services: Estimate, 1962 Estimate, 1963__. Increase--- $96, 000 96, 000 None These funds cover repairs to office and plant fixtures and equipment, maintenance of electric trucks, alterations to work areas, and cleaning of work areas and maintaining restrooms. 26 Supplies and materials: Estimate, 1962 Estimate, 1963. Increase. $349, 370 349, 370 None Under this object classification the amount requested covers the cost of wrapping paper, cardboard, envelopes, shipping bags, cartons, mailing tubes, adhesive tape, cord, glue, and office supplies, necessary in the mailing of more than 164 million publications which must be performed each year by the Office of Superintendent of Documents to the public, which purchases Government publications, to depository libraries, and for Members of Congress and other Government agencies as requested. We have no control over the volume of mailing that these functions may require but each publication or order must be packaged or wrapped which requires the extensive use of the materials in this category. We have based our 1963 estimate on the known factors of materials used and their cost in previous fiscal years and we believe the amount requested will be sufficient despite an anticipated increase in volume mailings for the fiscal year 1963. 31 Equipment: Estimate, 1962- Decrease_-_ $127, 100 33, 100 94, 000 In the performance of the operations required of this Office, a variety of items of equipment and labor-saving devices must be employed, such as mailing and inserting machines, high-speed addressing machines, lift trucks, stencil cutters, tying machines, typewriters, adding machines, pneumatic tube and automatic conveyor system equipment, bookkeeping machines, tape and labeling machines, etc. The decrease of $94,000 in the amount we are requesting for equipment represents the amount provided by the committee for urgent and special equipment purchases during the current fiscal year. This equipment program has proved most effective and we believe that the reduced amount requested will be adequate to meet our equipment needs for fiscal 1963. Reserve for contingencies: Estimate, 1962. Estimate, 1963. Increase... $200,000 200, 000 None The wisdom and farsightedness of this committee in providing in our current appropriation a reserve for contingencies has certainly been demonstrated by the fact that a portion of this reserve has been used to meet the expenses of a workload increase which could not be anticipated or provided for by normal budgetary adjustments. The amount of this reserve, $200,000, has been adequate to meet our unexpected needs for the current year and we have every hope that its continuance in the same amount for 1963 will cover any similar emergency situations that may develop during that year. It will again be available for use only with the approval of the Public Printer and cannot be used to provide permanent personal services. Income and expense statement, Superintendent of Documents-Sale of publications 1 This amount is turned into the U.S. Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. PROPOSED CHANGES IN BUDGET Mr. BUCKLEY. Our overall appropriation request for 1963 shows a net decrease of $40,000. That is due primarily to the fact that last year this committee authorized us to purchase several large and urgently needed items of equipment, which we have done and which are proving very effective. These are nonrecurring items and we will drop them out of our request for the coming fiscal year, 1963. So the only two areas in which we are asking for more than we asked for in 1962 are for the within-grade salary increases provided by law and for $3,300 required as our contribution to the retirement, employees' insurance and health benefits fund. CONTINGENCY RESERVE In addition to the equipment which this committee authorized us to purchase last year, there was an innovation in which we asked for and you granted a $200,000 reserve for contingencies. I think the committee might like to know that we have found that provision extremely helpful and workable. On the 1st of March we discovered that we had expended 97 percent of the allocation for the purchase of publications for depository libraries. We did not have any means of taking care of the 4 months remaining, and so under the provisions for the use of that fund we asked the Public Printer for approval to allocate $188,960 from the reserve for contingencies. That is going to enable us to come out even in that important category of expenditures and has made it unnecessary for us to ask either for an amended budget or for a deficiency appropriation. SALES OF PUBLICATIONS The earnings from the sale of publications went over the $5 million mark for the first time in fiscal 1961. This year we are looking, with 3 months to go, for about $5,300,000 and anticipate that in the forthcoming fiscal year of 1963 that might go as high as $5,750,000. This is the return to the Treasury from the sale of Government publications. Mr. STEED. What specific ways did the 1960 census contribute to the increase, if any? Mr. BUCKLEY. We feel that it is a significant reason why there were more publications and more bound publications for distribution to the depository libraries. Much of the final results of the 1960 census have been published during this particular year. PRINTING AND REPRODUCTION ESTIMATE Mr. STEED. I note that in your estimate for "Printing and reproduction" that it is the same as last year. In the light of the fact that wages and other costs have gone up, how do you figure you are going to be able to hold to the same figure? Would that be shown by a reduction in volume? Mr. BUCKLEY. Mr. Chairman, we may actually again have to make some use of the reserve for contingencies. We feel there is a possibility that during the forthcoming fiscal year we might be relieved to some extent of the current high volume of printing. We will know, however, a little better by the time we are ready to submit our next budget estimate, 6 months from now, as to how that picture is going to be for us. NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES Mr. STEED. What is your total personnel figure now? Mr. BUCKLEY. We have 484 full-time employees. To that we must add intermittent employees which we are authorized to bring in on weekends as the condition of the work necessitates. Right now we are utilizing about 250 of those on an average, but all of them are not brought in regularly. Mr. HARRISON. That is on Sunday and Monday nights. Mr. BUCKLEY. Yes, sir. SUMMARY OF WORKLOAD Mr. STEED. I wonder if you could prepare a table for us, if you do not have it already, for the last several years of your workload, the volume and percentage changes so as to give us an easy reference as to the growth and expansion of the work you do? Could you do that? Mr. BUCKLEY. Yes, sir, we can do that. There is a summary of workload for 3 years in the printed budget for 1963. The actual figures for 1961 and the estimates for 1962 and 1963 are there. We can go back a few more years. Mr. STEED. If you can backdate that a few years, especially in terms of your analysis of workload under different categories, it would give us a bird's-eye picture of how this thing has changed over the years. Mr. BUCKLEY. Shall we start with 1954 or 1955 ? Mr. STEED. That would do it. Mr. BUCKLEY. Yes, sir. (The requested information follows:) 81771-62-17 |