[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 211 (Wednesday, November 1, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64320-64322]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-18415]


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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


Performance of Commercial Activities

AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Executive Office of the 
President.

ACTION: Update to civilian position full fringe benefit cost factor, 
Federal pay raise assumptions, inflation factors, and tax rates used in 
OMB Circular No. A-76, ``Performance of Commercial Activities.''

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SUMMARY: OMB is updating the civilian position full fringe benefit cost 
factor used to compute the estimated cost of government performance in 
public-private competitions conducted pursuant to Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76. The civilian position full fringe 
benefit cost factor is comprised of four separate elements: (1) 
Insurance and health benefits, (2) standard civilian retirement 
benefits, (3) Medicare benefits, and (4) miscellaneous fringe benefits. 
OMB is updating the insurance and health benefits and standard civilian 
retirement benefits cost elements based on actuarial analyses provided 
by the Office of Personnel Management.
    OMB is also updating the annual Federal pay raise assumptions and 
inflation cost factors used for computing the government's personnel 
and non-pay costs in Circular A-76 public-private competitions. These 
annual pay raise assumptions and inflation factors are based on the 
President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2007. The tax rate tables used in 
connection with Circular A-76 competitions have also been revised. 2

DATES: Effective date: These changes are effective immediately and 
shall apply to all public-private competitions performed in accordance 
with OMB Circular A-76, as revised in May 2003, where the performance 
decision has not been certified by the government before this date.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mathew Blum, Office of Federal 
Procurement Policy (OFPP), NEOB, Room 9013, Office of Management and 
Budget, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, Tel. No. 202-395-
4953.
    Availability: Copies of OMB Circular A-76, as revised by this 
notice, may be obtained at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html#numerical. Paper copies of the Circular may be obtained by 
calling OFPP (tel: (202) 395-7579).

Rob Portman,
Director.

Attachment

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

FROM: Rob Portman, Director
SUBJECT: Update to Civilian Position Full Fringe Benefit Cost 
Factor, Federal Pay Raise Assumptions, Inflation Factors, and Tax 
Rates used in OMB Circular No. A-76, ``Performance of Commercial 
Activities.''

    Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76 requires 
agencies to use standard cost factors to estimate certain costs of 
government performance. These cost factors ensure that specific 
government costs are calculated in a standard and consistent manner 
to reasonably reflect the cost of performing commercial activities 
with government personnel. This memorandum updates the civilian 
position full fringe benefit cost factor, the annual Federal pay 
raise assumptions, inflation cost factors, and tax rate information. 
The update to the civilian position full fringe benefit cost factor 
is based on actuarial analyses provided by the Office of Personnel 
Management (OPM). The revised pay raise assumptions and inflation 
cost factors are based on the President's Budget for Fiscal Year 
2007. The tax rates are based on information provided by the 
Internal Revenue Service.

Civilian Position Full Fringe Benefit Cost Factor

    The Circular requires agencies to add the civilian position full 
fringe benefit cost factor to the basic pay for each full-time and 
part-time permanent civilian position in the agency cost estimate. 
This factor is comprised of four separate elements: (1) Insurance 
and health benefits, (2) standard civilian retirement benefits, (3) 
Medicare benefits, and (4) miscellaneous fringe benefits. OMB has 
determined, based on information provided by OPM, that the civilian 
position full fringe benefit cost factor needs to be adjusted 
upward, from 32.85 percent to 36.45 percent. This adjustment is 
necessary to account for increases in insurance and health benefits 
and civilian retirement benefits. The Medicare benefits and 
miscellaneous fringe benefits elements remain unchanged at this 
time. The revised cost elements of the civilian position full fringe 
benefit cost factor are summarized in the table below.

[[Page 64321]]



   Table.--Elements of the Civilian Position Full Fringe Benefit Cost
                                 Factor
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Updated cost
                 Element                   Previous cost      factor
                                              factor         (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Insurance and Health Benefit \a\........            5.7             6.7
Standard Civilian Retirement Benefit \b\           24.0            26.6
Medicare Benefit........................            1.45            1.45
Miscellaneous Fringe Benefit............            1.7             1.7
                                         -------------------------------
    Total Civilian Position Full Fringe            32.85           36.45
     Benefits...........................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ This factor is based on actuarial estimates for the costs of the
  government paid portion of health insurance under the Federal
  Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program and the Federal Employees
  Government Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program. This figure is multiplied
  by the average participation rates in these programs and divided by
  the average civilian employee's salary (as identified in the
  President's Budget) to derive a factor as a percentage of basic pay.
  This factor is based only on costs borne by the government (not
  enrollee premiums) and only on behalf of active Federal employees (not
  retirees). Increases in government costs for retirees are reflected in
  the standard civilian retirement benefit cost factor.
\b\ The standard civilian retirement benefit cost factor includes the
  government's accruing cost for pension benefits (Social Security,
  Thrift Savings Plan, Federal Employees or Civil Service Retirement
  Systems) and the accruing cost for post-retirement health benefits.

    The master tables for COMPARE (the costing software that 
incorporates the costing procedures of the circular) have been 
updated to reflect these changes. The updates are available at 
http://www.compareA76.com. Agencies shall use the updated COMPARE 
master tables to calculate and document public and private sector 
costs in competitions where a performance decision has not been 
certified by the government by the effective date identified in the 
Federal Register notice accompanying the publication of this 
memorandum.
    OMB intends to conduct periodic reviews of the civilian position 
full fringe benefit cost factor. OMB is exploring options with OPM 
for updating this factor on a more regularized schedule.
    Accordingly, the following changes are made to OMB Circular A-
76.
    1. Subparagraphs B.2.f.(1)(a) and (b) of Attachment C are 
revised to read as follows:
    (1) Full-time and Part-time Permanent Civilian Positions. Full-
time and part-time permanent civilian positions receive the civilian 
position full fringe benefit cost factor of 36.45 percent of the 
position's basic pay. The 36.45 percent civilian position full 
fringe benefit cost factor is the sum of the standard civilian 
position retirement benefit cost factor (26.6 percent), insurance 
and health benefit cost factor (6.7 percent), Medicare benefit cost 
factor (1.45 percent), and miscellaneous fringe benefit cost factor 
(1.7 percent).
    (a) Retirement Benefit Cost Factors. The standard civilian 
retirement benefit cost factor represents the cost of the weighted 
Civil Service Retirement System/Federal Employees Retirement System 
to the government, based upon the full dynamic normal cost of the 
retirement systems, the normal cost of accruing retiree health 
benefits based on average participation rates, social security, and 
Thrift Savings Plan contributions. The standard civilian retirement 
benefit cost factor for civilian positions is 26.6 percent of the 
position's basic pay (20.4 percent retirement pension plus 6.2 
percent for retiree health). The retirement cost factors for special 
class civilian positions are: 37.6 percent of basic pay for air 
traffic controllers (31.4 percent retirement pension plus 6.2 
percent for retiree health) and 39.8 percent of basic pay for law 
enforcement and fire protection (33.6 percent retirement pension 
plus 6.2 percent for retiree health).
    (b) Insurance and Health Benefit Cost Factor. The insurance and 
health benefit cost factor for civilian positions, based on actual 
cost, is 6.7 percent of the position's basic pay (0.2 percent for 
life insurance benefits and 6.5 percent for health benefits). The 
following standard cost factors and footnote no. 1 in Figure C.1 of 
Attachment C, ``Table of Standard A-76 Costing Factors,'' are 
revised as set forth below:

                                     Table of Standard A-76 Costing Factors
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                                                                                                      Factor \1\
                  Title                         Originating source             Category of cost        (percent)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Civilian Position Full Fringe Benefit      OMB Transmittal Memoranda...  Pay........................       36.45
 Cost Factor.
Insurance and Health Benefit Cost Factor.  OMB Transmittal Memoranda...  Pay........................        6.7
Special Class Retirement Cost Factor (Law  OMB Transmittal Memoranda...  Pay........................       39.8
 Enforcement & Fire Protection).
Special Class Retirement Cost Factor (Air  OMB Transmittal Memoranda...  Pay........................       37.6
 Traffic Control).
Standard Civilian Retirement Benefit Cost  OMB Transmittal Memoranda...  Pay........................       26.6
 Factor.
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\1\ The factors listed in this column are factors in effect on December 2005. Agencies should refer to the
  COMPARE Web site at http://www.compareA76.com. for the updated COMPARE master tables and other updated
  information.


[[Page 64322]]

Federal Pay Raise Assumptions

    The following Federal pay raise assumptions (including 
geographic pay differentials) that are in effect for 2006 shall be 
used for the development of government personnel costs.
    The pay raise factors provided for 2007 and beyond shall be 
applied to all government personnel with no assumption being made as 
to how they will be distributed between possible locality and base 
pay increases.

                     Federal Pay Raise Assumptions*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Civilian     Military
                 Efective date                   (percent)    (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 2006..................................          3.1          3.1
January 2007..................................          2.2         2.7
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Federal pay raise assumptions have not been established for pay raises
  subsequent to January 2007. For January 2008 and beyond, the projected
  percentage change in the Employment Cost Index (ECI), 4.2 percent,
  should be used to estimate government personnel costs for public-
  private competitions. In future updates to cost factors in the
  Circular, as pay policy for years subsequent to 2007 is established,
  these pay raise assumptions will be revised.

Inflation Factors

    The following non-pay inflation cost factors are provided for 
purposes of public-private competitions conducted pursuant to 
Circular A-76 only. They reflect the generic non-pay inflation 
assumptions used to develop the fiscal year 2007 budget baseline 
estimates required by law. The law requires that a specific 
inflation factor (GDP FY/FY chained price index) be used for this 
purpose. These inflation factors should not be viewed as estimates 
of expected inflation rates for major long-term procurement items or 
as an estimate of inflation for any particular agency's non-pay 
purchases mix.

                           Non-Pay Categories
                       [Supplies, equipment, etc.]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2007....................................................          2.2
FY 2008....................................................          2.2
FY 2009....................................................          2.1
FY 2010....................................................          2.1
FY 2011....................................................       * 2.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Any subsequent years included in the period of performance shall use a
  2.2% figure, until otherwise revised by OMB.

Tax Rate Tables

    The Circular requires that agencies subtract the Federal income 
tax generated for the government from the total cost of private 
sector performance. The tax rate tables used in connection with 
public-private competitions have been revised. COMPARE will apply 
the updated tax rate information to establish the adjusted cost of 
private sector performance.

[FR Doc. E6-18415 Filed 10-31-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-39-P