This $32.0 billion does not indicate present market value. Some of the land now owned by the military departments was donated, such as Governors Island which was donated to the Army by the State of New York. Also, some of the land was withdrawn from the public domain. There is no cost for public domain lands and in many instances no costs, or only nominal costs, for donated lands. Land and buildings in some cases were acquired a century or more ago when land prices and building costs were only a fraction of today's prices and costs. Cost data, in some instances, include estimates from old records, and are not always precisely accurate representations of original cost. Offsetting this tendency to understate real property values is the fact that no allowance for loss of value as a result of depreciation is reflected. However, because the data represent an inventory as of a given date, they do not include costs of structures which were demolished prior to that date. As additional construction or acquisition is accomplished, it is written into the inventory at the cost to the Government. The original cost figure is of significance as an historical measure of the military real property holdings of the Department of Defense, and in the absence of current appraised valuations (which would be very costly and of doubtful utility), is the only monetary measure of the Federal proprietary interest. The data on cost to the government do not include amount of rentals paid nor the value of the property under lease. These data do include, however, costs of any improvements made and owned by the Government on the leased properties. 62804 0-60- 6 At the request of the House Committee on Government Operations, an estimate has been made of the current value of the donated land and of the public domain land which is controlled by the Department of Defense. These estimates for either public domain or donated lands are not included in the $154.6 billion book value total of the real and personal property for military use or in the $7.3 billion total reported separately for civil functions. The estimates for public domain lands are shown in Tables 4 and 5. Table 4 shows total estimates for military and civil functions separately, and Table 5 distributes the estimates for military functions by military department. The estimates for the lands donated to the Department of Defense are shown in Tables 6 and 7. Table 6 shows total estimates for military and civil functions separately, and Table 7 distributes the estimates for military functions by military department. The types of activities on the donated lands used for military and Table 4.--Acreage and Estimated Current Value of Public Domain Lands Used for Military and Civil Functions by Location As of 30 June 1960 |