United States 

Office of 

Personnel Management 

The Federal Government’s Human Resources Agency

Benefits Administration Letter

 

Number: 15-301 Date: February 2015

Subject: Instructions Regarding Requirement for Agencies’ Payments to the Civil Service 

Retirement and Disability Fund for VERA and VSIP Processing Costs for FY 2015 under 

the Consolidation and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 

INTRODUCTION & PURPOSE 

The purpose of this announcement is to advise you that processing cost payments to the Civil 

Service Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF) are to continue for Voluntary Early Retirement 

Authority (VERA) retirements and retirements with a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments 

(VSIP). The cost of processing VERAs and retirements with a VSIP is based on the average unit 

cost of processing in the prior fiscal year (FY). The average unit cost in FY 2014 was $129.83; 

therefore, the amount the employing agency must use to determine the amount to pay into the 

CSRDF for FY 2015 is $129.83.

The Consolidation and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 continues agency payments 

to the CSRDF for VERAs and retirements with VSIPs. Section 734 of Title VII, Division E 

(Financial Services and General Government Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2015) of P.L. 113-

235 requires that during FY 2015 agencies remit to the CSRDF an amount equal to the Office of 

Personnel Management’s (OPM’s) average unit cost of processing a retirement claim for the 

preceding fiscal year ($129.83) for each employee who retires under 5 U.S.C. § 8336(d)(2) or 

§8414(b)(1)(B) (VERA) or who retires under any other provision of subchapter III of chapter 83 

or chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, and receives a payment as an incentive to separate 

(VSIP). 

This BAL provides the FY 2015 remittance amount and instructions on the methods available for 

your agency to remit payment in FY 2015 to the OPM for deposit into the CSRDF for VSIPs and 

VERAs processing costs. For reconciliation purposes, the monies for prior years must NOT be 

commingled with FY 2015. Each year MUST be reported separately (i.e., FY 2012, FY 2013, 

FY 2014, and FY 2015). 
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR AGENCY REMITTANCES IN FY 2015 UNDER 

THE CONSOLIDATION AND FURTHER CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2015

FOR VSIPs and VERAs PROCESSING COSTS

Remittance Amount for FY 2015 

The amount for agencies to remit to OPM for deposit into the CSRDF for FY 2015 is an amount 

equal to the FY 2014 average unit cost of processing annuity cases ($129.83).

Please Note: We prefer to have individual agencies submit the remittances rather than payroll 

providers to facilitate the reconciliation of payments. If payroll providers submit payments, it is 

important that they indicate the Agency Location Code (ALC) and Payroll Office of the 

agency(ies) for which they are submitting the remittance. Also, in addition to Intra-governmental 

Payment and Collection (IPAC), there are two other payment methods for non-IPAC users, 

FEDWIRE and ACH Credit. 

Remittances via IPAC 

Agencies having access to Treasury’s (IPAC) Systems must remit $129.83 per VERA and VSIP 

case to OPM using the following IPAC parameters: 

Agency Location Code (ALC): 24000002 

Receiver’s Treasury Account Symbol (TAS): AID: 024 Main: 8135 A: X Sub: 000 

Receiver’s Business Event Type Code (BETC): COLL 

Receiver’s Standard General Ledger: Debit 1010 and Credit 5400

Description: VERA/VSIP and total amounts applicable to CSRS and FERS respectively. 

Point of Contact: Include the name and email address of the person who is familiar with paying 

the VERA/VSIP costs. 

In addition, a scanned copy of the remittance, along with the appropriate Remittance Report, (See 

Attachments 1A, 1B, and 1C) must be sent to the email addresses identified in the “Remittance 

Report” section of this Benefit Administration Letter (BAL.) 

Remittances via FEDWIRE 

Agencies that do not have access to IPAC should remit via FEDWIRE for the amount due. A 

scanned copy of the remittance, along with the appropriate Remittance Report, must be sent to the 

email addresses identified in the “Remittance Report” section of this BAL. FEDWIRE 

instructions are included as Attachment 2. 

Remittances via ACH Credit 

Agencies that do not have access to IPAC or FEDWIRE should remit via ACH Credit. To 

validate proof of payment, please submit a scanned copy of the remittance, along with the 

appropriate Remittance Report, to the email addresses identified in the “Remittance Report” 

section of this BAL. ACH Credit instructions are included as Attachment 3. 
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Payment Timing 

Payments, regardless of the method, should be sent no later than 45 calendar days after the end of 

the month in which the employee retires. Payments should be submitted monthly. For example, 

payments for retirements between December 1 and December 31, 2014, should be sent by 

February 15, 2015.

Individual Retirement Records 

Agencies must annotate the Individual Retirement Records (SF 2806 and SF 3100) in the remarks 

column under the “Service History” section with the legal authority for each VERA or VSIP when 

submitting retirement paperwork. 

Remittance Report 

All agencies must submit certified Remittance Reports using the Attachments, which show the 

payroll office number(s) and Agency Location Code (ALC) for which the remittance is being sent. 

Please note – the 3-page enclosure has separate Remittance Report forms for FY 2015 VERAs, 

FY 2015 VSIPs, and FY 2015 VERAs with VSIPs. The totals on each Remittance Report must 

agree with the amount of the IPAC, EFT, or check remittance. OPM will use these reports for 

validation purposes to ensure payments have been remitted correctly. 

All reports, along with a copy of the remittance, must be emailed to OPM within five (5) business 

days from the date of the IPAC, FEDWIRE, ACH Credit, or check remittance using the following 

email addresses: Priscilla.Holland@opm.gov, with a cc: to FinancialBALs@opm.gov. 

Inquiries 

If you have any questions about this requirement, please call us on (202) 606-0606 or send an 

email to FinancialBals@opm.gov. 

 Sincerely, 

 

Kim Farington 

Associate Chief Financial Officer 

Financial Services 

Attachments: 1A,1B,1C, 2 & 3