Newsroom

November 20, 2014

NCUA Board clears budget items, all 2-1; budget up $11.2M

The NCUA Board on Thursday approved a $279.5 million operating budget for 2015, raising the budget $11.2 million, or 4.2 percent, from this year. Each component requiring action was approved on a vote of 2-1, with Board Member Mark McWatters dissenting.

The NCUA budget is funded mostly with a combination of federal credit union operating fees and the overhead transfer rate – the amount of the budget that is funded through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. The OTR draws from the fund's earnings, which are driven by investments of insured credit unions' 1 percent NCUSIF deposit.

In Thursday's actions, the FCU operating fee scale was reduced 0.9 percent for 2015; that is possible due to growth in FCU assets, upon which the fee is based. The board also set the OTR at 71.8 percent, up from 69.2 percent currently.

Here is a breakdown of most sources for next year's budget:

  • $78.69 million from the FCU operating fees (due April 15);
  • $200 million (approximately) from the OTR, paid by the NCUSIF throughout 2015;
  • $300,000 in operating fees paid by corporate federal credit unions;
  • $980,000 from rents, publication fees and other sources.

NAFCU has revised and published its FCU operating fee scale calculator for 2015; it's accessible here.

Thursday's open meeting went about 90 minutes long and included a lengthy discourse among the board members on the growth of the budget, transparency and more.