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NCUA heeds NAFCU’s call to direct operating fund surplus to CUs in 2022
As a result of the NCUA Board’s unanimous approval of the agency’s final 2022-2023 budget in December, federal credit union operating fees will decrease by an average of 23.7 percent in 2022. NAFCU previously urged the NCUA to identify and return any surplus funds back to credit unions directly or via credit against 2022 budget expenses. The association repeated the ask during the NCUA’s budget planning process, calling on the NCUA to identify cost-saving approaches to demonstrate its commitment to credit unions.
In a new Letter to Credit Unions, the NCUA Board notified credit unions that half of the operating fee reduction was a result of the board applying a $15 million credit to amounts that would otherwise be allocated to support the 2022 Operating and Capital Budget. The credit comes from “previously collected operating fees that remained unspent at the end of 2021,” according to the letter. The other half was a result of the agency’s 2021 budget surplus which was used to offset this year’s budget, growth in credit union system assets in 2021, as well as a slight increase to the share of the Operating Budget funded from the Share Insurance Fund (SIF).
The NCUA provided a 2022 Operating Fee Schedule to help credit unions calculate their 2022 operating fee; operating fees are due to the NCUA on April 15, 2022.
During its budget planning process, NAFCU urged the NCUA to return any surplus funds to credit unions directly or via a credit against 2022 budget expenses. The association has consistently called on the NCUA to identify cost-saving approaches to demonstrate its commitment to credit unions.
NAFCU remains committed to working with the NCUA to ensure credit unions are able to best serve their members without overburdensome operating fees.