Fiscal Service

Program Summary by Budget Activity

Dollars in Thousands

 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2015 TO FY 2016

Budget Activity Enacted Enacted Request $ Change % Change

Collections 21,531 $24,293 26,609 2,316 9.53%

Do Not Pay Business Center 5,000 $5,064 5,116 52 1.03%

Government Agency Investment Services 13,704 $13,055 13,074 19 0.15%

Government-wide Accounting and Reporting 65,486 $65,486 68,553 3,067 4.68%

Payments 126,636 $121,715 133,179 11,464 9.42%

Retail Securities Services 100,789 $95,237 94,145 (1,092) -1.15%

Summary Debt Accounting 4,737 $4,325 4,243 (82) -1.90%

Wholesale Securities Services 22,282 $19,009 18,931 (78) -0.41%

Subtotal, Fiscal Service $360,165 $348,184 $363,850 $15,666 4.50%

Offsetting Collections - Reimbursables $239,342 $216,863 $227,901 $11,038 5.09%

Total Program Operating Level $599,507 $565,047 $591,751 $10,704 -1.84%

Direct FTE 1,676 1,636 1,586 (50) -3.06%

Reimbursable FTE 714 714 701 (13) -1.82%

Total FTE 2,390 2,350 2,287 (63) -2.68%

* A portion of the Reimbursable/Fee FTE is funded by fee revenue as authorized by the Debt Collection 

Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA)

Summary

The Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal

Service) is guided by its vision to transform 

the way the government manages its finances 

and delivers shared services. Our efforts are 

focused on maximizing efficiencies, 

transparency, and accountability with the goal 

of improving government-wide financial 

management and the delivery of shared 

services. These themes are reinforced through 

our Strategic Goals which promote leadership 

and innovation, an engaged and highly 

effective workforce, delivery of exceptional 

programs and services, data transparency and 

usefulness, and expansion of shared services.

Fiscal Service FY 2016 Budget Highlights

Dollars in Thousands

Fiscal Service FTE Amount

FY 2015 Enacted 1,636 $348,184

Changes to Base:

Maintaining Current Levels (MCLs): - $5,888

Pay-Raise - $2,382

Pay Annualization - $609

FERS Contribution Increase - $911

Non-Pay - $1,986

Efficiency Savings: (50) ($8,480)

Rent and Space Savings - ($1,900)

Consolidation Savings (50) ($6,580)

Subtotal Changes to Base (50) ($2,592)

Total FY 2016 Base 1,586 $345,592

Program Changes:

Program Decreases: - ($1,530)

Retail Securities Services Savings - ($1,308)

Summary Debt Accounting Savings - ($119)

Wholesale Securities Services Savings - ($103)

Program Increases: - $19,788

DATA Act Implementation - $19,788

Total FY 2016 Request 1,586 $363,850
FY 2016 Budget Adjustments

Adjustments to Request

Maintaining Current Level (MCLs)

Pay-Raise +$2,382,000 / +0 FTE

Funds are requested for the proposed January 

2016 pay-raise.

Pay Annualization +$609,000 / +0 FTE 

Funds are requested for annualization of the

January 2015 pay-raise.

FERS Contribution Increase +$911,000 /

+0 FTE

Funds are requested for increases in agency 

contributions to the Federal Employee 

Retirement System based on updated actuarial 

estimates.

Non-Pay +$1,986,000 / +0 FTE

Funds are requested for inflation adjustments 

in non-labor costs such as travel, contracts, 

rent, supplies, and equipment.

Efficiency Savings

Rent and Space Savings -1,900,000 / +0 FTE

Savings are a result of releasing two floors in 

the Hyattsville, Maryland location in an effort 

to more efficiently utilize the space currently 

available and reduce the bureau footprint. 

Consolidation Savings -6,580,000 / -50 FTE

As the Fiscal Service continues the integration 

efforts related to the consolidation, savings are 

realized from staff rationalization through the 

elimination of duplicate positions and 

restructuring of the workforce, with personnel 

separating by attrition.

Program Decreases

Retail Securities Services Savings 

-$1,308,000 / +0 FTE

Identified anticipated savings related to 

contracts being re-bid as well as decreased 

printing costs.

Summary Debt Accounting Savings 

-$119,000 / +0 FTE

Identified anticipated contracts savings 

associated with a minor decrease in audit 

expenses. 

Wholesale Securities Services Savings 

-$103,000 / +0 FTE

Savings associated with decreases in printing, 

travel, supplies, and small contracts. 

Program Increases

DATA Act Implementation +$19,788,000 / 

+0 FTE

Funding is requested to support the 

implementation of Treasury’s responsibilities 

under the DATA Act. Specifically, Treasury, 

in collaboration with OMB, will lead the 

government-wide implementation of the 

DATA Act and associated financial data 

standards. Funds will also support activities 

associated with providing consistent, reliable, 

and searchable government-wide spending 

data on USAspending.gov as well as 

enhancing place-based reporting capabilities 

(referred to as geocoding).

Explanation of Budget Activities

Collections ($26,609,000 from direct 

appropriations and $245,000 from 

reimbursable resources) 

The Collections Program supports Treasury’s 

strategic objective “to improve the 

disbursement and collection of federal funds 

and reduce improper payments made by the 

U.S. government.” The Fiscal Service

manages the collection of federal revenues 

such as individual and corporate income tax

deposits, customs duties, loan repayments, 

fines, and proceeds from leases. In addition, 

the Fiscal Service establishes and implements 

collection policies, regulations, standards, and 

procedures for the federal government.
Debt Collections ($0 from direct 

appropriations, $128,733,000 from 

reimbursable resources)

The Debt Collection Program supports 

Treasury’s strategic objective “to improve the 

disbursement and collection of federal funds 

and reduce improper payments made by the 

U.S. government.” Fiscal Service collects 

delinquent Federal, state, and child support 

debt by providing centralized debt collection, 

oversight, and operational services to federal 

program agencies and states pursuant to the 

Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 

(DCIA) and related legislation. The Fiscal 

Service uses two debt collection programs: 

Treasury Offset Program (TOP) and CrossServicing.

Do Not Pay (DNP) Business Center 

($5,116,000 from direct appropriations and 

$871,000 from reimbursable resources) DNP 

provides a single centralized way to access 

timely, reliable, and actionable data and 

information that can help identify, prevent, 

detect, and recover improper payments 

throughout the payment life cycle while 

protecting individuals’ privacy. Additionally, 

the DNP working system is integrated into the 

Treasury payment stream, enabling justbefore-payment checks of selected data 

sources. 

Government Agency Investment Services 

($13,074,000 from direct appropriations, and 

$2,385,000 from reimbursable resources) 

The Government Agency Investment Services 

program consists of three distinct components: 

Federal Investments, Special Purpose 

Securities, and Federal Borrowings. The 

Federal Investments component includes 

issuing, servicing, and redeeming Government 

Account Series securities for federal agencies 

that have legislative authority to invest. The 

Special Purpose Securities component offers a 

flexible alternative for state and local 

governments to refinance their outstanding 

tax-exempt debt. The Federal Borrowings 

component represents Treasury’s role in the 

federal loan program.

Government-wide Accounting and Reporting

($68,553,000 from direct appropriations and 

$1,509,000 from reimbursable resources) The

Government-wide Accounting and Reporting 

(GWA) activity accounts for the monetary 

assets and liabilities of the Federal 

government. It also works with Federal 

agencies to adopt uniform accounting and 

reporting standards and provides support, 

guidance, and training to assist Financial 

Program Agencies in improving their 

Government-wide accounting and reporting 

responsibilities. GWA gathers and publishes 

government-wide financial information which 

is used in establishing fiscal and debt 

management policies and is also used by the 

public and private sectors to monitor the 

government’s financial status. 

Payments ($133,179,000 from direct 

appropriations, and $71,916,000 from 

reimbursable resources)

The Payments activity issues and distributes 

payments, develops and implements Federal 

payment policy and procedures, promotes the 

use of electronics in the payment process, and 

assists agencies in converting payments from 

paper checks to Electronic Funds Transfer 

(EFT). This activity also includes controlling 

and providing financial integrity to the 

payments process through reconciliation, 

accounting, and claims activities. 

Additionally, it collects monies from those 

parties liable for fraudulent or otherwise 

improper negotiation of government checks. 

Retail Securities Services ($94,145,000 from 

direct appropriations and $17,540,000 from 

reimbursable resources)

The Retail Securities Services (RSS) Program 

offers simple, safe, and affordable securities 

that enable Americans to save for their future. 
Products are targeted toward small investors 

looking to securely build savings. The 

program serves more than 50 million investors 

by processing millions of transactions 

annually. In support of the President’s 

initiative to help millions of Americans start 

saving for retirement, myRA, a new retirement 

savings account following Roth Individual 

Retirement Account rules, was launched in 

FY 2015. 

Summary Debt Accounting ($4,243,000 from 

direct appropriations, and $824,000 from 

reimbursable resources) 

The Summary Debt Accounting (SDA) 

program produces daily reports on the 

balances and composition of the public debt,

the Monthly Statement of the Public Debt, and 

the annual, audited Schedules of Federal Debt, 

which reports on the single largest liability in 

the annual Financial Report of the U.S. 

Government. SDA also consistently receives 

unqualified opinions on the Schedules of 

Federal Debt.

Wholesale Securities Services ($18,931,000 

from direct appropriations and $3,878,000 

from reimbursable resources)

The Wholesale Securities Services program is 

responsible for the announcement, auction 

issuance, and settlement of marketable 

Treasury bills, notes, bonds, and Treasury 

Inflation-Protected Securities. It also oversees 

an infrastructure that provides for the transfer, 

custody, and redemption of all Treasury 

marketable securities, which are purchased 

mostly by commercial market participants. 

Legislative Proposals

1. Increase delinquent state income tax debt 

collections. Allow offset of federal income 

tax refunds to collect delinquent state 

income taxes for out-of-state residents. 

Estimated collections: $1.2 billion in state 

taxes over 10 years (no federal revenue)

Under current law, the U.S. Department of the 

Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, may 

offset federal tax refunds to collect delinquent 

state income tax obligations but only if the 

delinquent taxpayer resides in the state 

collecting the tax. This proposal would allow 

the Fiscal Service to offset federal income tax 

refunds to collect delinquent state tax 

obligations regardless of where the debtor 

resides. For further details on this proposal, 

please see the Treasury Green Book. 

2. Reduce costs for states collecting 

delinquent income tax obligations. 

Estimated savings: $142.9 million over 10 

years (no federal revenue)

Under current law, the U.S. Department of the 

Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, may 

offset federal tax refunds to collect delinquent 

state income tax obligations only after the state 

sends the delinquent debtor a notice by 

certified mail. The statutory notice 

requirements for federal tax refund offset for 

all other types of debts, including federal nontax, child support, and state unemployment 

insurance compensation debts, are silent as to 

the notice delivery method. Federal tax refund 

offset regulations for all debts other than state 

income tax obligations require federal and 

state creditor agencies to send notices by 

regular first class mail. Similarly, notice 

requirements for other debt collection actions, 

including administrative wage garnishment, do 

not require delivery by certified mail. This 

proposal would allow the Fiscal Service to 

amend its regulations to permit states to send 

notices for state income tax obligations by first 

class mail, saving states certified mail costs 

and standardizing notice procedures across 

debt types.
3. Increase delinquent federal tax debt 

collections. Increase levy authority for 

payments to Medicare providers with 

delinquent tax debt. Estimated collections: 

$514 million over 10 years 

The Administration proposes a change to the 

Department of the Treasury’s debt collection 

procedures that will increase the amount of 

delinquent taxes collected from Medicare 

providers. Under current law, Treasury is 

authorized to continuously levy up to 30 

percent of a payment to a Medicare provider to 

collect delinquent tax debt. The proposal 

would allow Treasury to levy up to 100 

percent of a payment to a Medicare provider to 

collect unpaid taxes, effective for payments 

made after the date of enactment. For further 

details on this proposal, please see the 

Treasury Green Book. 

4. Increase delinquent federal non-tax debt 

collections. Authorize administrative bank 

garnishment for non-tax debts. Estimated 

collections: $320 million over 10 years 

To reach income of commercial entities and 

other non-wage income and funds available to 

debtors owing delinquent non-tax obligations 

to the United States, this proposal would 

authorize agencies to issue garnishment orders 

to financial institutions without a court order. 

Agencies would be required to provide debtors 

with appropriate due process and other 

protections to ensure that debtors have had the 

opportunity to contest the debts and/or enter 

into repayment agreements to avoid issuance 

of an order. The Internal Revenue Service 

currently has similar authority to collect 

federal tax debts. 

By way of background, the Debt Collection 

Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA) authorized 

federal agencies to collect delinquent non-tax

debt by garnishing the wages of debtors 

without the need to first obtain a court order. 

Since July 2001, the U.S. Department of the 

Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service alone 

has collected $131.6 million in garnished 

wages (as of April 30, 2013) on behalf of 

federal agencies. In addition, the ability of 

agencies to garnish wages motivates many 

debtors to resolve outstanding delinquencies 

before such action can be initiated. This 

successful collection mechanism, however, 

reaches only those debtors who earn wages. 

The proposed authority would be available only 

to garnish commercial accounts of debtors that 

owe delinquent non-tax debts, and would not be 

available to garnish consumer accounts. The 

legislation would direct the Secretary of the 

Treasury to issue government-wide regulations 

implementing this authority.

5. Increase and streamline recovery of 

unclaimed assets owed to the United States. 

Authorize Treasury to locate and recover 

assets of the United States and to retain a 

portion of amounts collected to pay for the 

costs of recovery. Estimated Recoveries: $25 

million over ten years

States and other entities hold assets in the 

name of the United States or in the name of 

departments, agencies, and other subdivisions 

of the Federal Government. Many agencies 

are not recovering these assets due to lack of 

expertise and funding. Under current 

authority, Treasury collects delinquent debts 

owed to the United States and retains a portion 

of collections, which is the sole source of 

funding for its debt collection operations. 

While unclaimed Federal assets are generally 

not considered to be delinquent debts, 

Treasury’s debt collection operations 

personnel have the skills and training to 

recover these assets. This legislation would 

authorize Treasury to use its resources to 

recover assets of the United States.
6. Provide authority to contact delinquent 

debtors via their cell phones. Estimated 

savings: $120 million over 10 years

The Budget proposes to clarify that the use of 

automatic dialing systems and prerecorded 

voice messages is allowed when contacting 

wireless phones in the collection of debt owed 

to or granted by the United States. In this time 

of fiscal constraint, the Administration 

believes that the Federal Government should 

ensure that all debt owed to the United States 

is collected as quickly and efficiently as 

possible and this provision could result in 

millions of defaulted debt being collected. 

While protections against abuse and 

harassment are appropriate, changing 

technology should not absolve these citizens 

from paying back the debt they owe their 

fellow citizens. The proposal would also 

allow the Federal Communications 

Commission to implement rules to protect 

consumers from being harassed and contacted 

unreasonably.

Fiscal Service Performance by Budget Activity

Budget Activity Performance Measure FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Actual Actual Actual Target Target

Collections

Percentage Collected 

Electronically of Total Dollar 

Amount of Federal Government 

Receipts 

97 97 98 98 98

Debt Collection

Amount of Delinquent Debt 

Collected Through All Available 

Tools ($ billions) 

6.17 7.02 6.91 7.1 7.36

Government Agency Investment 

Services

Percent of Respondents Selecting 

the Highest Rating of Customer 

Satisfaction with Government 

Agency Investment Services (%) 

60 61 57 58 59

Government-wide Accounting and 

Reporting

Percentage of Government-Wide 

Accounting Reports Issued Timely 99.86 100 100 100 100

Payments

Percentage of Treasury Payments 

and Associated Information Made 

Electronically 

88 92.5 94 95 95.4

Retail Securities Services

Percentage of Retail Customer 

Service Transactions Completed 

within 5 Business Days (%) 

75.7 74.5 89.7 88 88

Summary Debt Accounting Cost Per Summary Debt 

Accounting Transaction ($) 22.47 19.86 16.36 17.53 17.72

Wholesale Securities Services Percent of Auction Results 

Released Accurately (%) 100 99.6 99.3 100 100

Key: DISC - Discontinued and B - Baseline

Description of Performance

Collections: The measure, Percentage

Collected Electronically of Total Dollar 

Amount of Federal Government Receipts,

refers to the dollar value of collections 

received (settled) electronically. In FY 2014, 

98 percent of revenue collections were settled

electronically. The Fiscal Service expects to 

maintain an electronic collections rate of at 

least 98 percent in FY 2015 and FY 2016.

Debt Collection: In FY 2014, the Fiscal 

Service collected $6.91 billion in delinquent 

debt. The goal for FY 2015 and FY 2016 is to 

collect $7.1 billion and $7.36 billion, 

respectively, in delinquent debt through the 
expanding the use the administrative wage 

garnishment collection tool, enhanced use of 

analytics, and legislative changes such as the 

proposal to allow the Treasury to offset federal 

income tax refunds to collect delinquent state 

tax obligations regardless of where the debtor 

resides.

Do Not Pay (DNP) Business Center: Since 

the DNP Business Center was launched in 

FY 2012, significant progress has been made 

towards providing agencies a one-stop-shop to 

verify eligibility prior to issuing a payment. 

With the enactment of the Improper Payments 

Elimination & Recovery Improvement Act of 

2012 (IPERIA), the DNP Business Center 

began supporting Executive Branch agencies 

in meeting the IPERIA requirement to verify

all payments prior to issuance. The DNP

program offers three options geared towards 

reducing improper payments: The Do Not Pay 

Portal, The Do Not Pay Data Analytics 

Service, and Payment Integration.

Government Agency Investment Services

(GAIS):

The GAIS Program strives to provide highquality customer service, reliable transaction 

processing, and accurate and timely payment 

distribution. To aid in measuring 

performance, the organization conducts an 

annual customer survey that focuses on both 

program and system satisfaction. Based on 

survey responses, the Fiscal Service plans to 

target areas of improvement with the intent to 

increase the percentage of customers rating 

GAIS as "Excellent." The Fiscal Service’s 

target percentage for customers rating GAIS as 

“Excellent” is 58 percent in FY 2015 and 59 

percent in FY 2016. 

Government-wide Accounting and 

Reporting: In FY 2014, the Fiscal Service

achieved its target of 100 percent timely 

provision of Government-wide Accounting

reports. These reports include the Daily 

Treasury Statement, Monthly Treasury 

Statement, and Combined Statement. The 

Fiscal Service continues to achieve its targets

by maintaining the established process of 

validating and reconciling data with reporting

sources such as the Regional Finance Centers, 

FPAs, and various electronic deposit and 

payment applications. The bureau will

continue modernization efforts to ensure the

continued timeliness of these reports and 

anticipates it will achieve the 100 percent 

target for FY 2015 and FY 2016.

Payments: The measure Percentage of 

Treasury Payments and Associated 

Information Made Electronically supports the 

All Electronic Treasury priority. Due to the 

continued success of the Go Direct

® and

Direct Express® programs and implementation 

of the All Electronic Treasury priority, Fiscal 

Service has issued nearly 98 percent of its 

benefit payments and 94.4 percent of its total 

payments via EFT. Fiscal Service expects to 

achieve its targets in FY 2015 and FY 2016 by

expanding electronic conversion efforts to 

additional benefit agencies and payment types, 

such as other vendor miscellaneous payments 

and federal tax refunds. 

Retail Securities Services: In FY 2014, Fiscal 

Service completed 89.7 percent of retail 

customer service transactions within 5 

business days. The annual target for FY 2015 

and FY 2016 is 88 percent. Fiscal Service 

plans to meet performance targets by 

maintaining a skilled customer service 

workforce and streamlining operations to 

effectively manage costs.

Summary Debt Accounting: Summary Debt 

Accounting relies on cost per transaction to 

help manage the efficiency of the program. 

The actual FY 2014 cost was $16.36, which 

was below the target of $17.68. Minor 

application enhancements and increased 

system license fees will increase target costs to 
$17.53 and $17.72 in FY 2015 and FY 2016, 

respectively. 

Wholesale Securities Services: The accurate 

and timely release of auction results, with an 

emphasis on accuracy, is critical to the success 

of the Wholesale Securities Services Program. 

An emphasis on accuracy ensures preservation 

of public confidence in Treasury securities and 

stability of the financial market. Therefore, in 

FY 2016, Fiscal Service modified its 

performance measure from Percent of Auction 

Results Released in Two Minutes +/- 30 

Seconds to Percent of Auction Results 

Released Accurately, with a target of 100

percent in FY 2016. Fiscal Service anticipates 

meeting its target through ongoing business 

process reviews and regularly scheduled 

contingency planning and mock auction 

exercises.