Finance committee details OPTN operating costs, set‑aside and rationale for no reserve contribution in FY2027

Alan Reed, presenting the finance committee’s recommendation, laid out the components of the FY2027 budget and explained key assumptions and tradeoffs. He described three main buckets: contractual operating costs (the largest, presented as $88,000,000), a new policy set‑aside ($8,300,000 recommended, including carryover credits and a proposed $5,000,000 addition), and a reserve contribution (proposed at $0 for FY2027). Reed said the multi‑vendor transition mandated by the Securing the OPTN Act of 2023, incorporation of services previously funded by HRSA appropriations, and exhaustion of prior reserves were primary drivers of the fee increase.

Board members questioned the prudence of setting a zero reserve amid rising costs; Reed and leadership said the board elected to use FY2027 as a baseline year to refine operational data and prioritization and that reserve policy would be revisited for FY2028. Reed noted HRSA was preparing more detailed financial statements and a prioritization matrix to guide policy project funding. The presentation emphasized transparency in the new cost structure and the need to align project prioritization with available funding.