ALEXANDRIA, Va.–NCUA is forecasting it will spend approximately $8.5 million less in 2018 than it had budgeted, primarily the result of lower personnel costs.
The agency is moving to hire additional personnel, including in several specific areas where Chairman J. Mark McWatters said he wants to see additional hires.
The board voted 2-0 in favor of reallocating portions of its 2018 budget.
NCUA CFO Rendell Jones told the NCUA board during its meeting the staffing reductions are the result of the reorganization of its regional offices (Region I and Region III offices are being eliminated), as well as standard attrition.
Jones said, however, the reductions are not permanent and that NCUA is actively seeking to fill many of the 70 full-time positions that are currently vacant.
The NCUA had earlier approved an Operating Fund Budget of $298.1 million with 1,183 full-time equivalents for 2018.
Jones said there are no changes to its 2018 Capital Projects Budget of $15.4 million, with many projects expected to execute over multiple years.
Jones added that obligations against the 2018 Share Insurance Fund Administrative Budget will come in $352,000 under the budget of $8.1 million, due to lower costs associated with state examiner laptops and training-related travel.
Two Budget Increases
In addition to the reductions in costs related to personnel, Jones said that Anticipated Operating Fund Budget’s non-pay obligations are estimated to be lower than budgeted for 2018.
The $325,000 figure is the result of $980,000 in lower cost estimates, offset by two proposed cost increases that total $675,000.
The board voted in favor of Jones’ request for two budget increases:
- Cybersecurity Evaluation Tools, including a new$425,000 initiative to support cybersecurity integration in supervisory process.
- Relocations, including $250,000 for expected staff relocations to new duty stations in NCUA, to realign staff to areas of need.
Chairman Pushes for New Personnel
“I am not going to blame (personnel increases) on the faceless bureaucracy. I am going to blame them on me,” said McWatters. “There are certain areas where we are understaffed in critical areas, one of which is cybersecurity. We also need subject matter experts in the area of fintech.”
McWatters said he also supports increasing the budget to hire additional attorneys for the Office of the General Counsel and to support the Office of the Chief Economist.