The operating fee schedule for 2019 fees to be paid by federal credit unions to their regulatory agency was sent by the agency Thursday via a Letter to Federal Credit Unions, which shows operating fees are due to the agency no later than April 17, 2019.
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board approved a $304.4 million operating budget for 2019 during its open meeting Nov. 15. Federal credit union (FCU) operating fees will help fund the agency’s operating budget in 2019. Thursday’s letter – 18-FCU-03 (the third this year to FCUs) – includes the fee schedule as well as an attachment with an operating fee calculator to help individual FCUs determine the fees they will owe.
Federal credit unions with less than $1 million in assets will not be assessed an operating fee.
The letter explains that:
- FCUs with assets exceeding $1 million will receive invoices for 2019 operating fees in March. Fees will be based on assets reported as of Dec. 31, 2018.
- At the same time, all federally insured credit unions (federal and state-chartered) will be notified of any adjustments needed to maintain their National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) capitalization deposits at 1% of insured shares, as required by the Federal Credit Union Act. Capitalization deposits may be adjusted up or down based on insured shares reported as of Dec. 31, 2018.
- NCUA will combine the operating fee and capitalization deposit adjustment into a single invoice to the FCU. Payment will be due no later than April 17.
- FCUs are encouraged to pay their invoices via Pay.gov, which NCUA notes allows for secure, seamless payments to NCUA. Those not using Pay.gov will need to pay following the instructions provided in the March invoices.
The letter, signed by NCUA Chairman J. Mark McWatters, explains that the average 2% increase in fee rates is due to two major factors: the decrease in the overhead transfer rate (paid by the share insurance fund, reflecting costs of NCUA’s insurance-related activities); and changes in the agency’s capital investment program. “For 2019, the OTR decreased from 61.5% to 60.5%, which raised the operating fee. The operating fee also increased because of the cash needs for capital investments planned for 2019,” the letter notes.
The asset range for each FCU asset tier has been adjusted by the projected growth of federal credit union assets, the letter notes.