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OMB reports $51 million in vacancy savings and remaining new-vacant FTE pool balances
Summary
The Office of Management and Budget briefed the committee on vacancy savings and the new-and-vacant FTE pool, reporting cumulative vacancy savings and showing remaining pool balances of roughly $6.9 million (general fund) and $29.7 million (all funds) as of the February reporting period.
Joe Morrison of the Office of Management and Budget presented the committee with a monthly report on vacancy savings and the administration’s new-and-vacant FTE pool, showing cumulative vacancy savings and a remaining pool balance as agencies continue to request authority to fill positions.
Morrison said the average monthly vacancy savings for the biennium is about $5.8 million and that agency requests authorized from the new-and-vacant FTE pool have averaged about $3.1 million per month. The detailed handout presented to members listed beginning pool balances, distributions to agencies and the remaining balance as of the end of February.
On the summary page Morrison cited the beginning amounts for the new-and-vacant pool: about $40 million from the general fund and about $98.16 million in all funds at the start of the biennium. He reported distributions to date of about $33.2 million (general fund) and $68.5 million (all funds), leaving roughly $6.9 million in the general-fund pool and about $29.7 million in all funds available for the remainder of the biennium.
Representative Bosch asked why a high percentage of federal-fund authority remained in the pool. Morrison said his view was that federal grants and reimbursements often carry more uncertainty and contingencies, so budgeted federal-salary authority sometimes does not materialize and remains unused. Morrison and staff told the committee agencies will continue to submit requests as they finalize hiring decisions and that final biennial results will be available after the close of the biennium.
Why it matters: Vacancy savings and the new-and-vacant FTE pool show near-term salary savings and available hiring authority; those balances can be deployed for agency needs before the biennium closes and affect ending balances available for the next biennium.
Morrison said the vacancy-savings report in the packet runs through January and that the more detailed request report includes February activity. He told members final reconciliations will be available after the biennium closes and the agencies have completed their payroll reconciliations.
