The Oregon Bankers Association is behind a new report targetingOregon credit unions, according to its author, Marvin Umholtz.

Titled “Oregon's Credit Unions: Growing, Consolidating and OftenIndistinguishable from Commercial Banks,” the report — which theNorthwest Credit Union Association quickly shot down — likensthe state's credit unions to community banks and challenges theirtax-exempt status.

Umholtz,president/CEO for Umholtz Strategic Planning & ConsultingServices in Olympia, Wash., said Quinn Thomas of Quinn ThomasPublic Affairs in Lake Oswego, Ore., was his client and paid himfor his work, but that he knew the research was part of a largereffort for Thomas' client, the Oregon Bankers Association.

“Essentially, (Thomas and the OBA) wanted a snapshot of theOregon credit union industry overall and particularly the largercredit unions that look to most consumers of financial products andservices as indistinguishable from commercial banks,” Umholtzsaid.

“As the report findings suggested, the larger credit unions werefor all practical purposes indistinguishable in asset size, branchinfrastructure, product and service portfolios, who can be servedand level of compensationfor executives,” he said.

The report's key findings say the Oregon credit union industryis dominated by fewer and larger institutions than in the past; theservices and products offered by Oregon credit unions, especiallylarge credit unions, are very similar to those offered by communitybanks; and fields of membership have expanded from single employeegroups and rural communities to encompass large, multi-countypopulations.

It also states that based on three quarters of a year's worth ofnet income, Oregon's ten largest credit unions would have anestimated, combined 2012 YTD income tax obligation of more than $28million — 82% of the total income tax obligation all 73 of thestate's credit unions would have — and despite the low-incomedesignation many of them hold, their commitment to serving theunderserved is unverified.

The Northwest Credit Union Association organized a conferencecall for its member credit unions to make them aware of the reportand discuss their preparedness to defend themselves against itscontents, said Lynn Heider, the association's vice president ofpublic relations and communications.

“Marvin Umholtz has admitted he was paid by the Oregon BankersAssociation to interpret this data,” Heider said. “Our creditunions are well-positioned and prepared to protect their taxstatus. The credit union movement in the Northwest isthriving.”

Umholtz' report also examines Oregon credit union executives'compensation packages, taken from 2010 IRS 990 filings, and toutsthem as “excessive” considering credit unions' not-for-profitorganizational structure and tax exempt status.

For example, Robert Stuart, CEO for the $3.2 billion OnPointCommunity Credit Union of Portland, received a $1.8 million packagein 2010 and Dal King, CEO for the $763 million First CommunityCredit Union of Coquille, got a $300,000 salary plus $4 million in“other reportable” income, the report stated.

“The credit union executives were well-paid professionals andwere not underpaid, self-sacrificing do-gooders as some would wantus to believe,” Umholtz said.

The report calls the state's credit unions “a significantcompetitive force in the Oregon financial services marketplace” andaims to “assist policymakers to consider whether bank-like creditunions continue to meet a public purpose deserving ofmarketplace-distorting tax and regulatory treatment.”

“I would advise every credit union association to dodata-driven, fact-based research about their state, similar towhat's in the Oregon report,” Umholtz concluded. “As they enter thecongressional and state legislative sessions, it would behoove themto know exactly what their state's credit union industry might looklike to policymakers.”