KENSINGTON, Md. — Members of the $332 million Lafayette Federal Credit Union began to receive their charter conversion ballots and the disclosure packets that accompany them last week. The CU also took the somewhat unusual step of posting them on its Web site (www.lfcu.org) for the public to access. As has become customary, the disclosure included the basics of the conversion application as required by the NCUA. Should the members approve the charter change, they will have been able to make the shift relatively cheaply.

According to the CU's conversion documents, the proposed change will cost $284,800 overall, broken down as $5,300 in regulatory and examination fees, $26,000 in printing, $26,000 in postage, $8,000 in mailing and assembly, $15,000 for an inspector of elections, $42,500 for the services of a financial advisor and expenses, $125,000 for legal fees and expenses, $5,000 for a ballot solicitor, $2,000 for a the special meeting, $15,000 for signage and stationary changes, and $15,000 for miscellaneous expenses.

The CU also confirmed that it plans to convert further from a mutual savings bank to a mutual holding company structure that will enable it to issue stock. Lafayette also said it plans to recover the $2 million it said it has on deposit with the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund and asserting that, once the deposit is returned, it will invest the money "thereby creating more earnings to pay interest on savings accounts, keep interest rates low on loans, hold down service fees and help offset any federal deposit insurance premiums and assessments to be paid to the FDIC."