[Analytical Perspectives]
[Federal Receipts and Collections]
[4. User Fees and Other Collections]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
4. USER FEES AND OTHER COLLECTIONS
In addition to collecting taxes and other governmental receipts by the
exercise of its sovereign powers, the Federal Government earns income
from its various business-type activities. The term ``user fee'' is
defined as fees, charges, and assessments levied on a class directly
benefiting from, or subject to regulation by, a government program or
activity, to be utilized solely to support the program or activity. In
addition, the payers of the fee must be limited in the authorizing
legislation to those benefiting from, or subject to regulation by, the
program or activity, and may not include the general public or a broad
segment of the public. The user fee must be authorized for use only to
fund the specified programs or activities for which they are charged,
including directly associated agency functions, not for unrelated
programs or activities and not for the broad purposes of the Government
or an agency.
User fees include: collections from non-Federal sources for goods and
services provided (such as the sale of postage stamps and electricity);
voluntary payments to social insurance programs (such as Medicare Part B
premiums); miscellaneous customs fees (such as United States Customs
Service merchandise processing fees); and certain specific taxes and
duties (such as Harbor Maintenance and Inland Waterways taxes).
The term ``user fee'' is not a separate budget category for
collections. Depending primarily on whether the user charge is based on
the Government's sovereign power or business-type activity, it may be
classified as a governmental receipt, or as an offsetting collection.
User fees classified as governmental receipts are included along with
the taxes and other governmental receipts discussed in the previous
chapter. Those fees classified as offsetting collections are subtracted
from gross outlays. The purpose of this treatment is to produce budget
totals for receipts, outlays, and budget authority in terms of the
amount of resources allocated governmentally, through collective
political choice rather than through the market.
Offsetting collections are classified into two major categories:
offsetting receipts, which are deposited in receipt accounts; and
offsetting collections credited to appropriations (expenditure)
accounts, which are deposited directly in these accounts and usually can
be spent without further action by the Congress. While most offsetting
receipts and collections result from business-like activity or are
collected from other Government accounts, some result from the
Government's sovereign or governmental powers and would be classified as
governmental receipts but are required by law to be treated as
offsetting. Chapter 24, ``Budget System and Concepts,'' explains the
budgetary treatment of these collections more fully.
Not all offsetting collections are user fees. User fees do not include
collections from other Federal accounts;
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why User Fees?
... The term ``user fee'' refers to Government charges to those who use a Government good or service or are subject to Government regulation.
For example:
......... --Park entrance fees charged to visitors to national parks
......... --Meat, poultry, and egg inspection fees
......... --Tennessee Valley Authority proceeds from power sales
......... --Proceeds from the lease of Department of Energy buildings and facilities
......... --Flood insurance premiums
......... --Sales of commemorative coins
... User fees are dedicated to funding part or all of the cost of providing the service or regulation by crediting them to a program account
instead of to the general fund of the Treasury.
... User fees are generally designated as offsetting collections or receipts so that they offset the spending they are designated to fund.
... User fees are different from general revenue, because they are not collected from the general public or broad segments of the public (like
income taxes) and they are not used for the general purposes of government (like national defense).
... Users are more willing to support and pay fees when they are dedicated to maintaining or improving the quality of the programs that affect
them directly.
... Government program managers may be more diligent about collecting and spending fees when funding for their programs is dependent on fees,
instead of guaranteed appropriations of general taxpayer money.
... Administration policy is to shift to user fee funding wherever appropriate. However, essential government services will continue to be
supported by general fund appropriations from the Treasury as necessary.
... The Administration's user fee proposals generally require authorizing legislation to authorize the fees first and appropriations action
before the fees can actually be collected and spent. This is done to preserve the traditional roles of the authorizing and appropriations
committees in Congress and to conform to the ``scoring'' conventions of the Budget Enforcement Act.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Table 4-1. USER FEE COLLECTIONS
(In millions of dollars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimates
1997 -----------------------------------------------------------
actual 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Governmental receipts:
Harbor maintenance and inland waterway
fees................................... 832 900 959 1,021 1,087 1,159 1,235
Agricultural quarantine inspection fees. 115 141 144 148 153 159 163
Existing FAA user fees \1\.............. ........ ........ ........ 5,815 7,066 7,649 11,056
Proposed FAA user fees.................. ........ ........ ........ 1,700 1,700 1,700 850
Other governmental receipt user fees.... 134 215 224 224 225 229 230
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Total, governmental receipts.............. 1,081 1,256 1,327 8,908 10,231 10,896 13,534
Offsetting collections:
Offsetting collections deposited in
receipt accounts:
Medicare premiums..................... 20,421 20,672 21,511 23,934 26,278 28,816 31,731
Services charges on foreign military
sales................................ 15,128 13,750 12,550 11,790 11,090 10,570 9,770
Immigration fees...................... 992 994 1,400 1,400 1,412 1,430 1,404
U.S. customs user fees................ 1,288 1,184 1,272 1,316 1,363 1,412 1,464
Medical care and National Serviceman's
Life Insurance Premiums and other
Veterans fees........................ 234 915 889 975 1,044 1,117 1,135
Nuclear Regulatory Commission fees.... 459 455 467 469 480 496 510
Interior park entrance, concessionaire
and other fees....................... 349 392 420 467 454 475 469
Inspection, grading and other
Agriculture fees..................... 148 170 176 176 176 176 176
Other collections deposited in receipt
accounts............................. 396 413 428 448 441 441 465
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, offsetting collections
deposited in receipt accounts.......... 39,415 38,945 39,113 40,975 42,738 44,933 47,124
Offsetting collections deposited in
appropriations accounts:
Postal Service........................ 57,407 59,986 63,349 64,850 67,300 69,750 72,200
Tennessee Valley Authority and other
power marketing...................... 8,135 8,829 9,121 9,389 9,557 9,623 9,750
Housing and commissary fees paid by
military personnel and other defense
related fees......................... 7,909 7,378 7,428 7,402 7,402 7,402 7,402
Federal Employee and Retiree health
and life insurance benefits.......... 4,104 5,895 6,188 6,558 6,952 7,398 7,880
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
premiums and and other Department of
Labor fees........................... 1,576 1,708 1,740 1,615 1,610 1,652 1,681
Veterans insurance premiums and other
fees................................. 1,595 1,594 1,563 1,571 1,538 1,502 1,468
National flood insurance fund premiums 1,108 1,230 1,353 1,448 1,549 1,652 1,761
Bureau of Engraving and Printing and
U.S. Mint fees....................... 1,086 1,088 1,141 1,165 1,188 1,209 1,236
Patent and Trademark and fees......... 641 730 836 929 1,098 1,161 1,238
Other offsetting collections deposited
in appropriations accounts........... 6,580 6,603 7,880 7,520 7,440 7,551 7,666
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, offsetting collections
deposited in appropriations accounts... 90,141 95,041 100,599 102,447 105,634 108,900 112,282
=====================================================================
Total, offsetting collections............. 129,556 133,986 139,712 143,422 148,372 153,833 159,406
Total, user fee collections............... 130,637 135,242 141,039 152,330 158,603 164,729 172,940
Memorandum:
Existing fees:
Postal Service.......................... 57,407 59,986 63,349 64,850 67,300 69,750 72,200
Existing Medicare premiums.............. 20,421 20,672 21,384 23,255 25,464 27,791 30,497
Service charges on foreign military
sales.................................. 15,128 13,750 12,550 11,790 11,090 10,570 9,770
Other existing user fees................ 37,681 40,808 41,417 47,419 49,551 51,146 55,597
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, existing user fee
collections.......................... 130,637 135,216 138,700 147,314 153,405 159,257 168,064
User fee proposals........................ ........ 26 2,339 5,016 5,198 5,472 4,876
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Represents proceeds from current law aviation excise taxes which the FAA will convert to cost-based user
fees.
collections deposited in general fund receipt accounts; collections
associated with credit programs; realizations upon loans and
investments; interest, dividends, and other earnings; involuntary
payments to social insurance programs; excise taxes; customs duties;
fines, penalties, and forfeitures; cost sharing contributions; proceeds
from asset sales (property, plant, and equipment); Outer Continental
Shelf receipts; spectrum auction proceeds; and Federal Reserve earnings.
As shown in Table 4-1, total user fee collections (including those
proposed in this budget) are estimated to be $141.0 billion in 1999,
rising to $172.9 billion in 2003. User fee collections by the United
States Postal Service, Medicare premiums, and service charges on foreign
military sales are estimated to be 69 percent of all user fee
collections in 1999. Table 4-3 provides more detail for offsetting
receipts collected from the public and includes offsetting receipts
collected from other accounts within the Government.
The Budget contains a variety of user fee proposals that would yield
$2.3 billion in 1999 and $22.9 billion from 1999 through 2003. User fee
proposals establish, increase, or extend fees in order to recover more
of the costs of providing government services. The proposals would make
the affected program funding levels dependent on enactment of the user
fee proposals and subsequently, the actual collections of the fees.
Regular appropriations have only been requested to fund the
[[Page 81]]
start-up costs associated with these fee proposals. Table 4-2 splits the
proposals between discretionary and mandatory categories for the
appropriate scoring under the Budget Enforcement Act of 1997 (BEA). It
includes user fees classified as offsetting collections and governmental
receipts.
Discretionary Proposals
The following proposed fees are classified as discretionary because
the Appropriations Committees are being requested to authorize
collection of the fees and make them available for expenditure. In some
cases, authorizing legislation will be proposed either to establish new
fees or increase existing ones. The proposed authorizing legislation
will make both the fee collection and spending contingent upon
appropriations action.
Collections from the following proposals are to be deposited directly
in appropriations accounts as offsetting collections:
Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS): The budget
proposes to establish five APHIS fees to cover the cost of:
Providing animal welfare inspections to recipients of APHIS
services such as animal research centers, humane societies,
and kennels.
Issuing biotechnology certificates to firms that manufacture
biotechnologically-derived products.
Licensing, inspecting, and testing veterinary biologics by
veterinary biologic companies.
Inspecting to ensure the garbage fed to swine is properly
cooked to avoid contamination to establishments regulated
under the Swine Health Protection Act.
Eradicating the pink bollworm.
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA)
licensing fees.--The budget proposes to allow GIPSA to charge the grain
shippers and handlers using the official inspection system its costs to
develop, review and maintain standards and methods of testing (such as
for grain quality and classification) used by the grain industry. In
addition, an annual licensing fee is proposed to fund GIPSA activities
that ensure the integrity of the livestock, meat and poultry market and
marketplace, such as fostering open competition, and protecting
consumers and businesses from unfair practices.
Food Safety and Inspection Service meat, poultry and egg products
inspection fee.--The 1999 Budget proposes a new user fee for USDA's Food
Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Under the proposed fee, the meat,
poultry and egg products industries would be required to reimburse the
Federal government for the cost of the salaries and benefits and other
direct costs for all in-plant inspection. The proposal would transfer
the cost of Federal inspection services to the industries that directly
benefit, and would ensure that sufficient resources are available to
provide the level of in-plant inspection necessary to meet the demands
of industry. The cost of the user fee would amount to less than one cent
per pound of meat inspected.
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) cost-share fee.--The
1999 Budget proposes to impose fees for a number of NRCS activities,
including the sale of soil survey data, maps, and snow survey data to
private users, engineering designs, soil map interpretations for
commercial purposes, and irrigation management activities where water
supplies are not very limited. Fees would also be charged to meet
requests for the NRCS to expedite soil surveys, watershed planning, and
other services.
Farm services fee.--The Administration proposes to allow the Farm
Services Administration (FSA) to charge fees to cover the full cost of
collecting, processing, and disseminating information of interest to
private individuals and companies (crop insurance companies, appraisers,
and agricultural consultants, etc.), where the provision of information
is not required to fulfill FSA's mission.
Department of Commerce
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), navigational
assistance fees.--The Administration proposes a fee on U.S. and foreign
commercial cargo carriers to recover the cost of navigational assistance
services, such as nautical charting, provided by NOAA. The fee would be
administered for NOAA by the United States Cost Guard as part of the
Coast Guard's proposed navigational assistance fee program described
below.
NOAA, fisheries management fees.--The Budget proposes a fee of not
more than one percent of the ex-vessel value of fish harvested by
commercial fisherman to provide for fisheries management and enforcement
services.
Patent and Trademark fees.--The surcharge on patent fees, established
in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 and extended in the
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, will expire at the end of
1998. The expiration of this authority will reduce Patent and Trademark
Office (PTO) revenue by $182 million in 1999. The Budget proposes
legislation to extend and increase statutory fees charged for patent
products and services to ensure that fee revenues continue to cover the
cost of patent processing and related services.
Trade promotion services fees.--The Administration proposes to charge
U.S. businesses for counseling and other promotional services provided
by the International Trade Administration.
Department of Health and Human Services
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fees.--The proposal seeks $128
million in new fees to finance FDA activities such as medical device
reviews, animal drug approvals, import inspections, food additive
petition reviews, generic drug application reviews, and fees for
postmarket surveillance of products.
[[Page 82]]
Table 4-2. PROPOSED USER FEE COLLECTIONS
(In millions of dollars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1999-
Discretionary fee proposals 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2003
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offsetting collections deposited in
appropriations accounts:
Department of Agriculture:
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
fees........................................ ....... 10 10 10 10 10 50
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards
Administration licensing fees............... ....... 17 21 21 21 21 101
Food Saftey and Inspection Service, meat,
poultry, and egg products inspection fee.... ....... 473 573 573 573 573 2,765
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
cost-share fee.............................. ....... 10 15 15 25 25 90
Farm Services Administration, farm service
fee......................................... ....... 10 15 15 25 25 90
Department of Commerce:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration proposals:
Navigational assistance fee................ ....... 3 11 11 11 11 47
Fisheries management fee................... ....... 20 20 20 20 20 100
Patent and Trademark Office, patent fees..... ....... 182 189 207 219 228 1,025
International Trade Administration, trade
promotion fees.............................. ....... 6 12 12 12 12 54
Department of Health and Human Services:
Food and Drug Administration fees............ 26 128 128 128 128 128 640
Health Care Financing Administration Fee
Proposals:
Physician, provider, and supplier
enrollment registration fees.............. ....... 20 21 21 22 23 107
Managed care organization application and
renewal fees.............................. ....... 37 38 39 41 42 196
Initial provider certification fees........ ....... 10 10 11 11 12 54
Provider recertification fees.............. ....... 52 54 56 58 61 282
Paper claims submission fees............... ....... 110 114 118 122 126 589
Duplicate and unprocessable claims fees.... ....... 36 37 38 39 41 190
Department of the Interior: Bureau of Land
Management, hardrock location and maintenance
fees.......................................... ....... 39 40 41 42 43 205
Department of Labor: Alien labor certification
fee........................................... ....... ....... 40 40 40 40 160
Department of Transportation:
Coast Guard--navigational assistance fee..... ....... 35 165 165 165 165 695
Surface Transportation Board fees............ ....... 16 16 16 16 16 80
Army Corps of Engineers, wetlands permit Fee... ....... 7 14 14 14 14 63
Federal Emergency Management Administration,
radiological emergency preparedness fees...... ....... 13 13 13 13 13 65
National Transportation Safety Board, Aviation
accident investigation fee.................... ....... 6 6 6 6 6 30
Social Security Administration, claimant
representative fees........................... ....... 7 9 9 9 9 43
--------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, offsetting collections deposited in
appropriations accounts..................... 26 1,246 1,571 1,599 1,642 1,663 7,721
Offsetting collections deposited in receipt
accounts:
Department of Transportation: Federal Railroad
Administration--railroad safety inspection
fees.......................................... ....... 82 82 82 82 82 410
Department of the Treasury: Customs merchandise
processing fee................................ ....... 48 48 48 48 48 240
Environmental Protection Agency:
Pesticide registration fees.................. ....... 16 16 16 16 16 80
Chemical pre-manufacturing notification fees. ....... 8 8 8 8 8 40
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, extend NRC fees. ....... 313 314 322 332 342 1,623
Social Security Administration, claimant
representative fees........................... ....... 12 17 17 17 17 80
--------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, offsetting collections deposited in
receipt accounts............................ ....... 479 485 493 503 513 2,473
Total, discretionary user fee proposals.......... 26 1,725 2,056 2,092 2,145 2,176 10,194
Mandatory Fee Proposals
Offsetting collections deposited in
appropriations accounts:
Department of Health and Human Services:
Medicare cost-based provider audit fees...... ....... 395 395 395 395 395 1,975
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation state
bank examination fees......................... ....... 89 94 97 101 106 487
--------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, offsetting collections deposited in
appropriations accounts..................... ....... 484 489 492 496 501 2,462
Offsetting collections deposited in receipt
accounts:
Department of Health and Human Services:
Medicare premiums............................ ....... 127 679 814 1,025 1,234 3,879
Department of the Interior:
Interior/USDA, entrance and recreation fees.. ....... ....... 86 88 88 90 352
National Park Service, park concession fees.. ....... 3 6 12 18 25 64
--------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, offsetting collections deposited in
receipt accounts............................ ....... 130 771 914 1,131 1,349 4,295
Collections deposited in governmental receipt
accounts:
Federal Aviation Administration, proposed user
fees.......................................... ....... ....... 1,700 1,700 1,700 850 5,950
==============================================================
Total, mandatory user fee proposals.............. ....... 614 2,960 3,106 3,327 2,700 12,707
==============================================================
Total, User Fee Proposals........................ 26 2,339 5,016 5,198 5,472 4,876 22,901
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).--This proposal would
establish fees for a variety of activities associated with the Medicare
Program, including:
Physician, provider, and supplier enrollment registration fees.--The
Administration proposes to charge physicians, providers, and suppliers
an initial enrollment fee and a renewal fee in order to participate in
the Medicare program. Physicians would be required to re-enroll every 5
years. Durable medical equipment suppliers, hospitals, skilled nursing
facilities, home health
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agencies, and all other providers would be required to re-enroll every 3
years. Proceeds from the fee would be used for enrollment costs and
other contracting activities.
Managed care organization application and renewal fees.--The Budget
proposes to charge managed care organizations a fee to cover 100% of the
cost of reviewing initial applications and renewing annual contracts
with Medicare. Proceeds from this fee would be used to offset
administrative costs related to managed care organization application
and renewals as well as other administrative activities.
Initial provider certification fee.--The Administration proposes to
levy a fee on providers (e.g., home health agencies (HHA) and skilled
nursing facilities (SNF)) who wish to enter the Medicare program. The
fee would vary by type of provider. Proceeds from this fee would be used
to offset survey and certification costs.
Provider recertification fee.--This fee would be levied on providers
who are recertified for the Medicare program. By statute, SNFs must be
surveyed every year, HHAs every three years, and other providers about
once every ten years. The fee would be charged every year to spread the
costs of the certification program over time. Proceeds from this fee
would be used to offset survey and certification costs.
Paper claims submission fee.--Providers would be charged $1.00 for
every paper claim submitted for payment because of the additional cost
of processing paper rather than electronic claims. Rural providers and
very small providers who may not be able to purchase the necessary
hardware to comply with electronic claims transmission would be exempt
from the fee. Proceeds from the fee would be used for claims processing
and other contracting activities.
Duplicate and unprocessable claims fees.--The budget proposes to
charge Medicare providers $1.00 for each duplicate and unprocessable
claim submitted for payment to the Health Care Financing Administration.
Proceeds from the fee would be used for claims processing and other
contracting activities.
Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management, hardrock mining location and maintenance
fees.--This proposal would raise and extend the hardrock mining location
and maintenance fees established in the 1993 Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act beyond 1998.
Department of Labor
Alien labor certification fee.--The proposal would establish a new
fee, charged to businesses, for processing of alien labor certification
and attestation applications by the Labor Department. Collection of the
fee would begin in 2000 with the proceeds offsetting the costs of
administering the alien labor program. In 2000, regular appropriations
are required in addition to regular user fees to process the backlog of
applications that already have been filed.
Department of Transportation
Coast Guard, navigational assistance fees.--The Administration
proposes to levy a fee on U.S. and foreign commercial cargo carriers for
the use of Coast Guard navigational assistance services. Navigational
assistance services include the placement and maintenance of buoys and
other short-range aids-to-navigation, radio navigation, and vessel
traffic services. Fishing and recreational vessels would be exempt.
Surface Transportation Board fees.--The Administration proposes to
create a fee mechanism to completely offset the expenses of the Surface
Transportation Board (STB), the successor to the Interstate Commerce
Commission (ICC). The fees would be collected from those who benefit
from the continuation of the ICC functions transferred to the STB, e.g.,
railroads and shippers.
Department of the Treasury
Customs merchandise processing fee.--The Budget proposes to allow the
U.S. Customs Service to collect and spend an increase in the Customs
Merchandise Processing Fee that will be proposed in authorizing
legislation subsequent to release of the Budget. The Administration will
propose to increase the ad valorem rate of the Merchandise Processing
Fee paid by importers from 0.21 percent to up to 0.25 percent of the
value of formal cargo entries into the United States. Collection and use
of the proceeds from the fee increase would be provided for in
appropriations action, and would be statutorily restricted to the
modernization of Customs' automated commercial operations.
Army Corps of Engineers
Wetlands permit fees.--The Budget proposes to increase fees charged to
permit commercial use of wetlands. The proceeds of the fee would be used
to fund wetland regulatory activities.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Radiological emergency preparedness fee.--The budget includes a
proposal to reauthorize FEMA's assessments on Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) licensees to cover 100 percent of the cost of providing
site-specific services that directly contribute to the fulfillment of
emergency preparedness requirements needed for NRC licensing.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Aviation accident investigation fees.--To offset a portion of the
NTSB's growing cost of commercial aviation accident investigations, a
new aviation accident recovery and investigation fee is proposed. This
fee, which would be paid by commercial air carriers based on revenue
flight hours of operation, would collect an estimated $6 million in
1999.
Social Security Administration
Administration of claimant representative approval and direct payment
process fees.--The Budget proposes
[[Page 84]]
to impose a fee on persons who represent Supplemental Security Income
claimants in administrative or judicial proceedings. This fee is
designed to recover the cost of processing attorney fee agreements and
determining the allowable charge under the fee petition process. This
assessment would be imposed only if the claimant is awarded past due
benefits and a fee for representation is approved by the Social Security
Administration.
Collections from the following proposals would be deposited in receipt
accounts as offsetting receipts:
Department of Transportation
Federal Railroad Administration, railroad safety inspection fee.--The
rail safety fee would offset costs incurred by the Federal Railroad
Administration for inspection, research and development and related
activities to ensure the safe operation of passenger and freight
railroads. A similar fee was enacted in the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1990, but expired at the end of 1995.
Environmental Protection Agency
Pesticide registration fees.--The budget proposes to reinstate
pesticide registration fees that are statutorily suspended through 2001.
These fees would be used to offset the cost of reviewing applications
for pesticide registrations, amendments to registrations, and
experimental use permits.
Chemical pre-manufacturing notification (PMN) fees.--The
Administration proposes to eliminate the statutory cap on PMN fees and
to increase fees charged to chemical producers to recover the cost of
reviewing notifications of new chemicals prior to production.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Extend Nuclear Regulatory Commission fees.--Under current law, the NRC
must recover approximately 100 percent of its costs from licensing,
inspection, and annual fees charged to its applicants and licensees
through 1998. Unless the law is extended, the fee coverage requirement
will revert to 33 percent of NRC's cost of operations. The
Administration proposes to extend fees at approximately 100 percent of
NRC's cost of operations through 2003.
Social Security Administration
Administration of claimant representative approval and direct payment
process fees.--The Budget proposes to impose a fee on persons who
represent Social Security claimants in administrative or judicial
proceedings. This fee is designed tor ecover the cost of processing
attorney fee agreements, determining the allowable charge under the fee
petition process, and processing the direct payment of attorney fees.
This assessment would be imposed only if the claimant is awarded past
due benefits, and a fee for representation is approved by the Social
Security Administration.
Mandatory Proposals
The following new and increased fees are classified as mandatory
because they are proposed to be included in authorizing legislation and
neither the collection or spending of the fee would be contingent upon
appropriations action.
Collections from the following proposals are to be deposited directly
in appropriations accounts as offsetting collections:
Department of Health and Human Services
Medicare cost-based provider audit fees.--The Budget proposes $395
million in 1999 in fees to charge cost-based health care providers the
full cost associated with performing annual audits of these providers
cost reports. The fee would allow more annual audits to be conducted and
act as a deterrent to inflating reported costs.
Medicare premiums for retirees under the age of 65 and displaced
workers.--The Administration proposes to charge premiums based on an
actuarially fair rate to people between the ages of 62 and 65 and
displaced workers between 55 and 61 who elect to participate in the
Medicare buy-in premium based program. This increase in premium
collections is partially offset by the reduction in premium collections
due to the Medicare program integrity proposal.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
State bank examination fee.--The Administration proposes to require
the FDIC and the Federal Reserve to assess fees for examinations of bank
holding companies and state-chartered FDIC-insured banks. The costs of
such examinations are currently funded from deposit insurance premiums
and Federal Reserve earnings from monetary policy activities. The FDIC
fee proceeds would be used to finance the examination operation. The
Federal Reserve collections do not meet the technical definition of user
fees, but are considered governmental receipts and are discussed in the
preceding chapter on governmental receipts.
[[Page 85]]
Collections from the following proposals are to be deposited in
receipt accounts as offsetting receipts:
Department of the Interior
Interior and USDA, entrance and recreation fees.--The Administration
proposes to increase entrance, recreation, and other fees charged by the
National Park Service and other land management agencies, and to grant
those agencies permanent authority to use all receipts for facility
improvements and new repairs.
National Park Service, park concession fees.--The Administration
proposes to allow parks to retain all existing and new franchise fees to
use for park improvements and concessions related activities. This
proposal would encourage parks to increase returns from concessions
contracts, and is part of a set of legislative proposal and
administrative reforms to improve management of the park concessions
program and increase competition for concessions contracts.
Collections from the following proposal are to be deposited in receipt
accounts, as governmental receipts.
Department of Transportation
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), cost based user fees.--
Beginning in 2000, the Budget assumes that the existing aviation excise
taxes will be gradually reduced over a five year period and replaced
with a more efficient system of cost-based user fees charged for FAA
services. As part of a continuing effort to create a more business-like
FAA, the Administration will propose legislation to fund the FAA
entirely with cost-based user fees by 2003.
OFFSETTING RECEIPTS
Table 4-3 itemizes all offsetting collections deposited in receipt
accounts. These include payments from one part of the Government to
another, called intra-governmental transactions, and collections from
the public. These receipts are offset (deducted) from outlays in the
Federal budget. In total, offsetting receipts are estimated at $352.9
billion in 1999.
[[Page 86]]
Table 4-3. OFFSETTING RECEIPTS BY TYPE
(In millions of dollars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Source actual estimate estimate estimate estimate estimate estimate
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRAGOVERNMENTAL
TRANSACTIONS
On-budget receipts:
Federal intrafund
transactions:
Distributed by agency:
Interest from the
Federal Financing
Bank................. 4,171 3,142 2,758 2,518 2,344 2,113 1,853
Interest on Government
capital in
enterprises.......... 1,570 1,543 1,321 1,257 1,153 1,033 926
Other................. 1,969 1,610 1,632 1,741 1,842 1,960 2,078
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Federal
intrafunds........... 7,710 6,295 5,711 5,516 5,339 5,106 4,857
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trust intrafund
transactions:
Distributed by agency:
Payments to railroad
retirement........... 3,747 3,784 3,785 3,806 3,692 3,797 3,796
Other................. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total trust intrafunds 3,748 3,785 3,786 3,807 3,693 3,798 3,797
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total intrafund
transactions........... 11,458 10,080 9,497 9,323 9,032 8,904 8,654
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interfund transactions:
Distributed by agency:
Federal fund payments
to trust funds:
Contributions to
insurance programs:
Military
retirement fund.. 15,151 15,119 15,724 16,353 17,007 17,688 18,395
Supplementary
medical insurance 59,471 59,773 62,171 67,824 74,738 82,489 91,201
Proposed
Legislation
(PAYGO)........ .......... .......... -135 -250 -295 -325 -365
Hospital insurance 4,202 5,414 6,021 5,894 6,192 6,556 6,975
Railroad social
security
equivalent fund.. 56 62 57 58 59 60 62
Rail industry
pension fund..... 182 192 197 199 202 205 209
Civilian
supplementary
retirement
contributions.... 21,558 21,502 21,813 22,041 21,918 21,770 21,718
Unemployment
insurance........ 565 517 526 551 619 608 598
Other
contributions.... 425 372 435 401 415 406 404
Proposed
Legislation
(PAYGO)........ .......... .......... 5 .......... .......... .......... ..........
Miscellaneous
payments......... 585 515 476 476 478 480 482
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal............ 102,195 103,466 107,290 113,547 121,333 129,937 139,679
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trust fund payments to
Federal funds:
Quinquennial
adjustment for
military service
credits............ .......... .......... .......... .......... 1,182 .......... ..........
Other............... 1,049 1,065 1,062 1,085 1,108 1,129 1,153
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal............ 1,049 1,065 1,062 1,085 2,290 1,129 1,153
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total interfunds
distributed by agency 103,244 104,531 108,352 114,632 123,623 131,066 140,832
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Undistributed by agency:
Employer share,
employee retirement
(on-budget):
Civil service
retirement and
disability
insurance.......... 8,168 8,676 8,776 9,032 9,400 9,819 9,774
CSRDI from Postal
Service............ 5,927 6,068 6,014 6,237 6,452 6,715 6,863
Hospital insurance
(contribution as
employer) \1\ ..... 1,860 1,902 1,976 2,063 2,117 2,220 2,317
Postal employer
contributions to
FHI................ 605 597 620 645 671 698 727
Military retirement
fund............... 11,102 10,543 10,563 10,535 10,584 10,750 11,000
Other Federal
employees
retirement......... 111 122 128 132 137 143 145
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total employer
share, employee
retirement (on-
budget)............ 27,773 27,908 28,077 28,644 29,361 30,345 30,826
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interest received by
on-budget trust
funds.............. 63,776 65,852 67,206 68,804 70,083 71,648 73,309
Proposed
Legislation (non-
PAYGO)........... .......... 99 214 457 728 967 1,187
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total interfund
transactions
undistributed by
agency............... 91,549 93,859 95,497 97,905 100,172 102,960 105,322
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total interfund
transactions........... 194,793 198,390 203,849 212,537 223,795 234,026 246,154
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total on-budget receipts.. 206,251 208,470 213,346 221,860 232,827 242,930 254,808
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 87]]
Off-budget receipts:
Interfund transactions:
Distributed by agency:
Federal fund payments
to trust funds:
Old-age, survivors,
and disability
insurance.......... 6,880 9,650 8,899 9,363 9,913 10,562 11,267
Undistributed by agency:
Employer share,
employee retirement
(off-budget)....... 6,483 7,155 7,667 8,317 8,831 9,571 10,304
Interest received by
off-budget trust
funds.............. 41,214 46,730 51,623 56,966 62,889 69,318 76,337
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total off-budget receipts: 54,577 63,535 68,189 74,646 81,633 89,451 97,908
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total intragovernmental
transactions............... 260,828 272,005 281,535 296,506 314,460 332,381 352,716
===================================================================================
PROPRIETARY RECEIPTS FROM
THE PUBLIC
Distributed by agency:
Interest:
Interest on foreign
loans and deferred
foreign collections.... 672 633 596 561 545 602 583
Interest on deposits in
tax and loan accounts.. 948 920 920 908 908 908 908
Other interest
(domestic--civil) \2\ . 5,365 6,098 6,928 7,679 8,428 9,210 9,957
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total interest.......... 6,985 7,651 8,444 9,148 9,881 10,720 11,448
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Royalties and rents....... 1,298 1,321 1,367 1,375 1,396 1,417 1,446
Proposed Legislation
(PAYGO)................ .......... .......... .......... -1 -1 -1 -1
Sale of products:
Sale of timber and other
natural land products.. 485 499 519 500 487 473 471
Sale of minerals and
mineral products....... 792 440 57 56 87 146 181
Sale of power and other
utilities.............. 812 739 761 761 786 791 781
Other................... 38 34 51 54 54 53 53
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total sale of products.. 2,127 1,712 1,388 1,371 1,414 1,463 1,486
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fees and other charges for
services and special
benefits:
Medicare premiums and
other charges (trust
funds)................. 20,421 20,672 21,384 23,255 25,464 27,791 30,497
Proposed Legislation
(PAYGO).............. .......... .......... 127 679 814 1,025 1,234
Nuclear waste disposal
revenues............... 596 602 625 632 637 641 652
Veterans life insurance
(trust funds).......... 231 224 210 192 174 158 142
Other \2\ .............. 2,095 1,806 1,621 1,598 1,581 1,596 1,602
Proposed Legislation
(non-PAYGO).......... .......... .......... 12 17 17 17 17
Proposed Legislation
(PAYGO).............. .......... .......... 24 119 128 135 144
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total fees and other
charges................ 23,343 23,304 24,003 26,492 28,815 31,363 34,288
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sale of Government
property:
Sale of land and other
real property.......... 96 102 63 67 70 613 74
Military assistance
program sales (trust
funds)................. 15,128 13,750 12,550 11,790 11,090 10,570 9,770
Other................... 111 95 82 82 82 82 63
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total sale of Government
property............... 15,335 13,947 12,695 11,939 11,242 11,265 9,907
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Realization upon loans and
investments:
Foreign military credit
sales.................. 653 553 391 261 186 134 85
Negative subsidies and
downward estimates..... 2,395 2,565 6,576 2,530 2,319 2,270 2,436
Proposed Legislation
(non-PAYGO).......... .......... .......... 50 .......... .......... .......... ..........
Proposed Legislation
(PAYGO).............. .......... .......... .......... 241 234 233 237
Repayment of loans to
United Kingdom......... 108 110 112 115 117 50 57
Other................... 131 73 38 40 44 29 30
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total realization upon
loans and investments.. 3,287 3,301 7,167 3,187 2,900 2,716 2,845
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recoveries and refunds \2\
......................... 2,831 3,361 3,863 3,996 4,204 5,325 4,078
Proposed Legislation
(non-PAYGO)............ .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... 285
Proposed Legislation
(PAYGO)................ .......... .......... 40 323 332 333 331
Miscellaneous receipt
accounts \2\ ............ 1,621 2,518 2,070 2,117 2,148 2,186 2,231
Proposed Legislation
(PAYGO)................ .......... .......... -21 -22 -23 -24 -24
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total proprietary receipts
from the public
distributed by agency.... 56,827 57,115 61,016 59,925 62,308 66,763 68,320
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 88]]
Undistributed by agency:
Other interest: Interest
received from Outer
Continental Shelf escrow
account.................. 6 1,120 30 .......... .......... .......... ..........
Rents and royalties on the
Outer Continental Shelf:
Rents and bonuses....... 1,259 1,652 983 908 877 789 725
Royalties............... 3,452 3,011 3,204 3,044 3,257 3,488 3,161
Sale of major assets...... .......... 4,424 728 .......... .......... .......... ..........
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total proprietary receipts
from the public
undistributed by agency.. 4,717 10,207 4,945 3,952 4,134 4,277 3,886
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total proprietary receipts
from the public \3\ ....... 61,544 67,322 65,961 63,877 66,442 71,040 72,206
===================================================================================
OFFSETTING GOVERNMENTAL
RECEIPTS
Distributed by agency:
Regulatory fees........... 3,057 2,927 3,127 3,184 3,237 3,311 3,365
Proposed Legislation
(non-PAYGO)............ .......... .......... 385 386 394 404 414
Other..................... 76 70 70 70 70 70 8
Undistributed by agency:
Spectrum auction proceeds. 11,006 2,216 1,833 4,889 4,841 11,354 3,300
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total offsetting
governmental receipts.... 14,139 5,213 5,415 8,529 8,542 15,139 7,087
===================================================================================
Total offsetting receipts... 336,511 344,540 352,911 368,912 389,444 418,560 432,009
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Includes provision for covered Federal civilian employees and military personnel.
\2\ Includes both Federal funds and trust funds.
\3\ Consists of:
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
actual estimate estimate estimate estimate estimate estimate
On budget:
Federal funds......... 24,524 31,163 30,238 26,430 27,370 29,932 28,978
Trust funds........... 37,002 36,139 35,691 37,410 39,035 41,071 43,191
Off-budget.............. 18 20 32 37 37 37 37