Credit unions in North Carolina, South Carolina, California and Nevada will see their league membership dues increase in 2016 – and CEOs in those states interviewed by CU Times said they support the change.

Next year, the Carolinas Credit Union League is moving to a square root formula to calculate dues, which shifts a greater portion of the total dues to members with large assets and lowers dues for credit unions with small assets, according to John Radebaugh, president/CEO of the Carolinas Credit Union League.

About 25 of the league-affiliated credit unions in North Carolina and South Carolina with assets of $180 million and above will see their dues increase in proportion to the amount of dues they manage. Some are expected to see an increase as low as 1%, but others will see their membership dues increase by as much as 20% or 30%, Radebaugh said.

However, a few of the seven league-affiliated, billion dollar credit unions in North and South Carolina will see their dues substantially increase by more than 30%. For example, the $1.1 billion Sharonview Credit Union in Fort Mill, S.C., will see its membership dues skyrocket by 64%.

But that doesn't mean all of the billion dollar credit unions in those states will see a dues increase of more than 60%, according to Radebaugh.

“For the larger credit unions, it depends on which state they are from,” he said. “The North Carolina and South Carolina leagues had two completely different ways to calculate dues. The South Carolina credit unions paid less in dues than the North Carolina credit unions.”

For example, the $1.1 billion Allegacy Federal Credit Union in Winston Salem, N.C., which is roughly the same size as Sharonview CU, will see a 31% increase in dues while Sharonview CU will see a larger increase, he said. So, the increase varies even though the assets are equal or close. This new formula puts everyone on the same level. For instance, Allegacy FCU and Sharonview CU will be paying close to the same dues, Radebaugh said.

The Carolinas league board also recently agreed to cap the membership dues at $125,000, which would only affect the $30.8 billion State Employees Credit Union in Raleigh, N.C. if it were to re-affiliate with the league.

For about 140 Carolina cooperatives with less than $180 million in assets, their dues will decline by 2% or 3%, and up to 50% for credit unions with assets of $1 million or $2 million, according to Radebaugh.

Out west in California and Nevada, credit unions will see their membership dues increase by an average of 3.97% in 2016, following a five-year freeze on dues, cost cutting of league operations and declining revenues from partnership sources, according to Diana Dykstra, president/CEO of the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues. In addition, the leagues set a 5% cap on membership dues for next year.

So why are credit union CEOs OK with the membership dues increase?

Even though the Carolinas league's new square root formula will substantially increase membership dues for Sharonview CU, President/CEO Bill Partin said it's well worth it.

“We are seeing an increase of about $15,000, from $25,000 to $41,000,” Partin said. “After my Hike the Hill visit in July of this year and working more closely with the league on political advocacy, I am OK with the increase based on the value we are receiving from the league and CUNA in the political arena. Project Zip Code, the Member Activation Program and the day to day work in the trenches by the league in trying to persuade Congress to vote on bills that will positively impact credit unions makes me comfortable making that statement.”

In addition to paying dues for advocacy and other league services, Radebaugh believes the larger credit unions are willing to pay more because it helps reduce costs for small credit unions that are facing greater challenges and, in some cases, some of the larger credit unions feel the membership dues are an immaterial amount of money.

“They also understand that the overall amount of dues we are collecting hasn't changed,” Radebaugh said. “It's just that the distribution of dues has changed.”

He expects the total amount of membership dues the Carolinas league will collect in 2016 will equal $1.6 million or less, the same amount that was collected by the North Carolina and South Carolina leagues before the organizations merged in 2013.

“We want to make sure that we have enough funding to do the job we need to do for our credit unions, and this square root formula does help mitigate the mergers we are seeing, especially among the smaller credit unions,” he said.

In California, Keith Sultemeier, president/CEO of the $3.6 billion Kinecta Federal Credit union in Manhattan Beach, supports the membership dues increase and pointed out that the California and Nevada leagues struck a good balance of helping to facilitate the business needs of smaller institutions while also representing the advocacy needs of the larger cooperatives.

“Most of the larger credit unions are primarily interested in advocacy from the league, and I think they do a pretty good job on that,” he said. “We're never thrilled to hear of an increase in operating expenses, but there's still value there. Are we willing to pay a little more to keep that value? Yeah, we are.”

Kinecta FCU paid $102,054 in membership dues this year. In 2016, its dues are estimated to increase by approximately $4,000.

Wally Murray, president/CEO of the $553 million Greater Nevada Credit Union in Carson City, said Dykstra and her predecessor Bill Cheney did a “tremendous job” of reducing dues burdens during the Great Recession and holding the line on them for several years.

“With respect to the impending increase in league dues, we consider it reasonable and are supportive of it,” Murray said. “We understand that the recent impact to the leagues' revenue model by a key industry partner have made it necessary to seek the membership dues increase, but remain more than satisfied with the overall return we receive from that investment.”

He credited the league for key advocacy efforts that helped pass legislation that enhanced the lien priority status for Nevada credit unions that lend on properties that are part of a homeowner's association.

Ed Turk, president/CEO of the $197 million Heritage Community Credit Union in Sacramento, is of the same mindset as Murray and supports the dues increase.

He said he believes the cooperative movement has the collective duty to support the league system because organized voices of credit unions are stronger than any singular credit union voice.

“The cost to credit unions of bad legislation or regulation would easily cost more than the amount of dues we pay,” Turk said. “We must have the best lobbying efforts possible. We can't do it unless all credit unions do their part.”

Although Turk also said political advocacy is the most important benefit for his credit union, he is concerned that all the credit union trade state and national associations will become distracted by complex business ventures and non-member dues revenue.

“I fear this may come at the expense of political and regulatory advocacy which we desperately need as a movement,” he said. “I believe consolidation of the national credit union trades as well as state and regional trades needs to accelerate to ensure a strong trade association presence is guaranteed for the long term.”

In a letter to credit unions, Dykstra explained that a dues increase was necessary because the trade organization continues to endure earnings pressure from some of its key business partners (i.e. CUNA Mutual) and credit union mergers.

“In just the past two years alone, we have experienced a decrease in annual revenue of nearly $1 million, and we are expecting an additional significant decrease in revenue in 2016,” Dykstra wrote in an Aug. 10 letter to credit union members.

Additionally, Dysktra noted since the fourth quarter of 2014, the leagues have cut operating expenses by $948,000. About $661,000 was realized by “reducing headcount,” Dykstra wrote. The trade group also saw a savings of $116,000 from its back office collaboration initiative with other leagues, otherwise known as Plexcity. The organization's lease costs also were reduced by $171,000.

She also pointed out that over the last 10 years, the leagues have reduced operating expenses by 7%, which, when adjusted for inflation, equates to $4 million or a 29% reduction.

Dykstra's letter explained that for 2016, the dues calculation will be changed by lowering the square root of assets factor from 1.80 to 1.70. The 2016 dues formula also places a 5% cap on dues, which means membership dues for California and Nevada credit unions will not increase by more than 5% from the dues they paid in 2015.

The dues increase will generate a total of $240,000 in additional revenue.

“We are extremely cognizant and respect the fact that the money we generate in dues isn't our money, but your members' money and every day we strive to provide the value that in the end allows you, our members the opportunity to grow and better serve your members,” Dykstra wrote.

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