United States 

Office of 

Personnel Management 

The Federal Government’s Human Resources Agency

Benefits Administration Letter

 

Number: 18-302 Date: May 2018

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

Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF) for VSIPs and VERAs Processing Costs for 

FY 2018 under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018.

INTRODUCTION & PURPOSE 

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

for Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) retirements and retirements with a Voluntary 

Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) are to continue under the Consolidated Appropriations Act,

2018 (Public Law (P.L.) 115-141). For FY 2018, the employing agency will pay $135.05 into the 

CSRDF; this is the average FY 2017 unit cost of processing VERAs and retirements with a VSIP. 

Beginning in FY 2018, OPM developed a new cost accounting methodology, enabling the agency 

to account for cost more accurately, and determined that the VERAs and retirements with a VSIP 

cost for FY 2019 will increase to $468.68. The increase is based on the actual FY 2017 costs and 

will not become effective until 10/1/2018. 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 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, 2018) of P.L. 115-141 requires that during 

FY 2018, 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 ($135.05) 

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 2018 remittance amount and instructions on the methods available for 

your agency to remit payment in FY 2018 to 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 2018. Each year MUST be reported separately (i.e., FY 2015, FY 2016, 

FY 2017, and FY 2018).
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR AGENCY REMITTANCES IN FY 2018 UNDER 

THE CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2018 FOR VSIPs and VERAs 

PROCESSING COSTS

Remittance Amount for FY 2018 

The amount for agencies to remit to OPM for deposit into the CSRDF for FY 2018 is an amount 

equal to the FY 2017 average unit cost of processing annuity cases ($135.05).

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 Codes 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 

Automated Clearing House (ACH) Credit. 

Remittances via IPAC 

Agencies having access to Treasury’s IPAC Systems must remit $135.05 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 Benefits Administration Letter. 

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, 2017, should be sent by 

February 15, 2018.

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 2018 VERAs, 

FY 2018 VSIPs, and FY 2018 VERAs with VSIPs. The totals on each Remittance Report must 

agree with the amount of the IPAC, Electronic Fund Transfer (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, EFT, or check remittance using the following email addresses: 

Kamini.Mathur@opm.gov and Priscilla.Holland@opm.gov, with a copy 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, 

 Tonya R. Johnson 

 Associate Chief Financial Officer 

 Financial Services 

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