ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The NCUA board approved a net decrease of $1.3 million to the 2015 operating budget during its monthly board meeting. The net reduction was a result of a reduction of the operating fund budget by $2.9 million for a revised total budget of $276,532,779; however,the capital budget was increased by $1.6 million for a revised budget of $10,482,500.
According to the Board Action Memorandum, the majority of capital budget increases were the result of increased cybersecurity capabitilities. An investment of $1.3 million will "leverage commercially available data center facility services" to put the NCUA on par with government security standards. An additional $150,000 will pay for safety upgrades to the NCUA's headquarters office and another $160,000 will upgrade equipment used by remote employees.
The NCUA will also spend nearly $750,000 on cybersecurity assessments that check internal controls of sensitive data and systems.
"These ongoing assessments take into account up-to-date cybersecurity federal guidelines, industry leading practices, and emerging threats. As a result of our most recent assessment, NCUA will expand internal monitoring and scanning capabilities. The first-year costs for this multi-year ongoing effort are expected to be $746,800," the memo read.
Operation budget decreases included a $1,422,000 net reduction in employee pay and benefits, a net decrease of $428,000 in travel and decreases in rent, communications and utilities, administrative costs and contracted services.
While NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz praised the agency's transparency regarding the budget, Board Member Mark McWatters criticized the NCUA for not making public more information regarding the NCUSIF's overhead transfer rate. The OTR now accounts for approximately 72% of the NCUA's total budget.
Matz and Vice Chairman Rick Metsger voted in favor of the budget decrease, while McWatters voted in opposition due to transparency issues.
NAFCU President/CEO Dan Berger released a statement following the meeting that touched upon budget transparency.
"NAFCU continues to urge NCUA to ensure it is making the very best of the dollars credit unions pay – dollars credit unions otherwise would be using to strengthen operations and meet the needs of their members. Credit unions are obligated by law to provide these monies, but that does not preclude NCUA from its responsibility to operate in an efficient manner – or to be open about the manner in which the funds provided by credit unions are utilized," he said.
CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle also issued a statement in support of NCUA budget transparency.
"CUNA supports any and all efforts for budget transparency by the agency. Much is needed to make the process work better for credit unions and their members," he said.
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