Revenues—Option 36

Increase Federal Civilian Employees’ Contributions to Their Pensions

Note: This option would take effect in January 2014.

The federal government provides most of its civilian employees with an annuity in retirement through either the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or its predecessor, the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). Those annuities are jointly funded by the employees and the federal agencies that hire them. About 85 percent of federal employees participate in FERS, and most of them contribute 0.8 percent of their salary toward their future annuities. The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 increased the contribution rate to 3.1 percent for most employees hired after December 31, 2012. Federal employees who are still covered by CSRS generally contribute 7 percent of their salary and accrue larger annuities. Agency contributions for FERS and CSRS do not have any effect on total federal spending or revenues because they are intragovernmental payments, but employee contributions are counted as federal revenues. (Annuity payments made to FERS and CSRS beneficiaries represent federal spending.) Continue reading “CBO —Option 36 Increase Federal Civilian Employees’ Contributions to Their Pensions”