There are significant concerns with NCUA’s proposed 2025-2026 operating budget, which America’s Credit Unions detailed in written comments filed with agency Wednesday. The proposed 2025 operating budget reflects a 12% increase from the 2024 budget, an “unnecessary and unsustainable administrative expansion that credit unions should not have to bear,” wrote America’s Credit Unions Head of Emerging Issues/Deputy Chief Economist Curt Long. 

The comments note:

• NCUA’s operating budget continues to rise despite inflation subsiding, which places undue burdens on credit unions. (Long noted that a median federal credit union would see a 47% higher operating fee share insurance fund allocation during his presentation at NCUA’s budget briefing.) 
• The steady rise in supervision costs is “difficult to reconcile” with the agency’s costly investments in the Modern Examination and Risk Identification Tool (MERIT). 
• Concerns with accelerating growth in the administrative budget, which is poised to grow 50% from 2022 and includes dramatic increases in several office budgets and the creation of a new position. 

America’s Credit Unions requests the NCUA board consider providing periodic updates on those areas with material spending increases to allow stakeholders to assess the degree to which the agency is maximizing value for its investment.

The comments also reinforce the need for extended examination cycles for certain credit unions. During the public budget briefing, NCUA staff indicated this is in progress. Staff also shared that extended cycles will be available for credit unions fitting specific criteria, including asset sizes between $1 billion and $10 billion; a CAMELS code of 1 or 2; and no change in CEO since its last exam.