ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Saying it is seeking to further enhance transparency about its budget and operations, NCUA has posted online the individual office budgets of each of its three board members.
Information about the office budget of each NCUA Board member is available on their individual webpages and on NCUA’s 2015 budget and supplementary materials landing page. The data released shows NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz’s office budget is $1,067,700, a 2.9% decrease over 2014; Board Member Rick Metsger’s office budget is $671,800 for 2015, a 5.6% decrease from 2014, and Board Member Mark McWatters’ office budget is $703,177, a decrease of 0.9% from 2014. Data for all three board members can be seen at right.
“In November, I committed to expanding the information and data made available to assist the public in understanding the budget process,” Matz said in a statement. “For 2015, NCUA has already released more detailed information on the overall budget, office budgets, contracting and the budget process. By making public information about the budgets of each Board Member, we are now taking the next step in furthering our commitment to budget disclosure and public awareness.”
As part of the 2015 budget process, NCUA said it has increased transparency for the agency’s Operating Budget, and has posted its 2015 Operating Budget Board Action Memorandum and 2015 Corporate Stabilization Fund Board Action Memorandum.
The disclosures follow pressure from the trade associations for more information on NCUA’s budget, which has increased 50% over the past five years. Transparency was the subject of much discussion during the board’s November meeting.
“Transparency provides the sunlight needed to promote good government and accountability,” Metsger said in a statement. “We have therefore released more information about the budget than in prior years, including information about the budget of each NCUA Board
Member. As a result, NCUA’s many stakeholders will be better able to evaluate NCUA’s performance in 2015.”
“In an effort to show my ongoing commitment to full information sharing, I called for posting my office budget on the NCUA website,” McWatters said in a statement. “As I noted in my remarks at the November Board meeting, we are spending other peoples’ money, the scarce resources of federal and state-chartered credit unions and their members. Any allocation of these funds should follow only after thoughtful reflection as to the necessity of the expenditures and whether the costs have been undertaken in the most efficient, effective, transparent and fully accountable manner. I welcome the posting of budget information about all board offices.”