ALEXANDRIA, Va. – During its July board meeting, NCUA approved shaving 1% off of its proposed budget for the current year.
NCUA had initially budgeted nearly $151 million for 2006, but decreased that total by a net of over $1.4 million, bringing the agency's budget to $149.4 million for the year. Most of the cost savings came from 28 staff vacancies totaling savings of nearly $2.2 million. Vacancies are currently running about 3.5% of full-time equivalents.
NCUA Board Member Gigi Hyland inquired whether this level of vacancy is higher than in the past. Senior Budget Analyst Chris McGrath said, "It's actually lower than what we've seen in the past." He also noted that right now NCUA is around 4% of FTEs.
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One unanticipated increase from the time the budget was set was the reprinting of deposit insurance brochures, stickers, placards, and related materials, for which the agency is footing the bill for the credit unions. Another $62,000 will be incurred to mail those items out.
NCUA also experienced an increase in auditing and review services that it contracts out. An additional $105,000 was needed to help NCUA meet a new 45-day deadline for its annual financial statement audit and Federal Information Management Security Review. Staff attributed the increased cost to doubling efforts to make the deadline and increased demand post-Sarbanes-Oxley.
NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson asked where NCUA is realizing actual cost savings. McGrath explained that even with just 1,959 credit unions signed up for NCUA Express, the agency's electronic document delivery service, NCUA has saved over $130,000 since its inception. NCUA saved $22,000 this year simply by delivering its annual report electronically. [email protected]
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