Survey Reports and Regulations

Proposed Regulations on 2007 Interim Adjustments for Alaska and Puerto Rico

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a proposed regulation in the Federal Register on August 25, 2008, at 73 FR 50174, to change the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) rates received by certain white-collar Federal and U.S. Postal Service employees in Alaska and Puerto Rico. The proposed rate changes are the result of interim adjustments OPM calculated based on relative Consumer Price Index differences between the COLA areas and the Washington, DC, area. The proposed regulations would reduce the COLA rates for Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau by 1 percentage point and would increase the rate for Puerto Rico by 1 percentage point.

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Final Regulations on Puerto Rico and Hawaii County Increases

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a final regulation in the Federal Register on May 29, 2008, at 73 FR 30727, to change the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) rates received by certain white-collar Federal and U.S. Postal Service employees in Puerto Rico and Hawaii County, HI. The changes are the result of interim adjustments OPM calculated based on relative Consumer Price Index differences between the cost-of-living allowance areas and the Washington, DC, area. OPM is also making an additional one-time adjustment to the Puerto Rico COLA rate based on the impact of the new sales tax in Puerto Rico. This regulation increases the COLA rate for Puerto Rico to 13 percent and the COLA rate for Hawaii County, HI, to 18 percent.

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Proposed COLA Rate Changes -- Alaska

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a proposed regulation in the Federal Register on January 3, 2007, at 73 FR 772, to change the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) rates received by certain white-collar Federal and U.S. Postal Service employees in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau, Alaska. The proposed rate changes result from living-cost surveys OPM conducted in Alaska and the Washington, DC, area in 2006. The proposed regulation would reduce rates in the three Alaska areas from 24 percent to 23 percent and would supersede a previous 1-percent reduction proposed in October 2006.

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2006 Alaska COLA Survey Report

OPM published the "2006 Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living Allowance (COLA) Survey Report for the Alaska and Washington, DC, Areas" in the Federal Register on January 3, 2007, at 73 FR 774. This report contains the results of the COLA surveys that OPM conducted in Alaska and the Washington, DC, area during the spring and summer of 2006.

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2006 Interim Adjustments

OPM published interim adjustments for the Pacific and Caribbean Nonforeign Cost-of-Living Allowance (COLA) areas in the Federal Register on September 12, 2007, at 72 FR 52169. The Federal Government conducts COLA surveys in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to set COLA rates. These surveys are conducted once every 3 years on a rotating basis. In between COLA surveys, the Government adjusts COLA rates for the areas not surveyed using the relative change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the COLA area compared with the Washington-Baltimore CPI. The Pacific and Caribbean COLA areas were not surveyed in 2006. Therefore, OPM is calculating and publishing interim adjustments for these COLA areas.

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Proposed COLA Rate Changes for Puerto Rico and Hawaii County

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a proposed regulation in the Federal Register on September 6, 2007, at 72 FR 51200, to change the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) rates received by certain white-collar Federal and U.S. Postal Service employees in Puerto Rico and Hawaii County, HI. The proposed rate changes are the result of interim adjustments OPM calculated based on relative Consumer Price Index differences between the cost-of-living allowance areas and the Washington, DC, area. OPM is also proposing an additional one-time adjustment to the Puerto Rico COLA rate based on the impact of the new sales tax in Puerto Rico.

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Final Regulations on USVI Increase

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a final regulation in the Federal Register on August 17, 2007, at 72 FR 46141, to increase the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) rate received by certain white-collar Federal and U.S. Postal Service employees in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). The increase is the result of living-cost surveys conducted by OPM in USVI, Puerto Rico, and the Washington, DC, area in 2005. The final regulation increases the COLA rate for USVI from 23 percent to 25 percent effective September 17, 2007.

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Proposed COLA Rate Changes

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a proposed regulation in the Federal Register on October 27, 2006, at 71 FR 63176, to change the cost-of-living allowance rates received by certain white-collar Federal and U.S. Postal Service employees in Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The changes are the result of living-cost surveys conducted by OPM in 2005 and interim adjustments OPM calculated based on relative Consumer Price Index differences between the cost-of-living allowance areas and the Washington, DC, area.

Available formats: or [114 KB]

2005 Caribbean Survey Report

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published the "2005 Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living Allowance Survey Report: Caribbean and Washington, DC, Areas" in the Federal Register on October 27, 2006, at 71 FR 63179. The Federal Government uses the results of surveys such as these to set cost-of-living allowance (COLA) rates for General Schedule, U.S. Postal Service, and certain other Federal employees in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This report contains the results of the COLA surveys conducted by the Office of Personnel Management in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Washington, DC, area during the spring of 2005.

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Alaska and Pacific Interim Adjustments

OPM published interim adjustments for the Alaska and Pacific Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living Allowance (COLA) areas in the Federal Register on October 27, 2006, at 71 FR 63178. The Federal Government conducts COLA surveys in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to set COLA rates. These surveys are conducted once every 3 years on a rotating basis. In between COLA surveys, the Government adjusts COLA rates for the areas not surveyed using the relative change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the COLA area compared with the Washington-Baltimore CPI. The Alaska and Pacific COLA areas were not surveyed in 2005. Therefore, OPM is calculating and publishing interim adjustments for these COLA areas.

Available formats: or [90 KB]

COLA Rate Changes

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published final regulations in the Federal Register on August 2, 2006, at 71 FR 43897, to change the cost-of-living allowance rates received by certain white-collar Federal and U.S. Postal Service employees in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The changes are the result of living-cost surveys conducted in 2002, 2003, and 2004.

Available formats: or [128 KB]

Revised Living-Cost Indexes

OPM published revised living-cost indexes in a Federal Register notice on August 2, 2006, at 71 FR 43876. The revised living-cost indexes related to the "2002 Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living Allowance Survey Report: Caribbean and Washington, DC, Areas;" the "2003 Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living Allowance Survey Report: Alaska and Washington, DC, Areas;" and the "2004 Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living Allowance Survey Report: Pacific and Washington, DC, Areas." OPM revised the COLA area living-cost indexes based on additional rental data analyses undertaken after the publication of these reports in response to comments we received.

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GPRES Report

OPM published the "Nonforeign Area General Population Rental Equivalence Survey Report" in the Federal Register on July 31, 2006, at 71 FR 43228. The General Population Rental Equivalence Survey (GPRES) was a special research project in which OPM collected data on homeowner estimates of the rental value of their homes and market rents in the nonforeign cost-of-living allowance (COLA) areas and in the Washington, DC, area. OPM conducted GPRES to determine whether rental survey data collected in the COLA surveys should be adjusted to account for homeowner shelter costs. Based on the GPRES results, OPM has determined that no adjustment is appropriate.

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2004 Pacific COLA Survey Report

OPM published the "2004 Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living Allowance (COLA) Survey Report for the Pacific and Washington, DC, Areas" in the Federal Register on August 4, 2005, at 70 FR 44989. The Federal Government uses the results of surveys such as these to set cost-of-living allowance (COLA) rates for General Schedule, U.S. Postal Service, and certain other Federal employees in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This report contains the results of the COLA surveys conducted by OPM in Hawaii, Guam, and the Washington, DC, area during the spring and summer of 2004.

Available formats: or [244 KB]

2003 Alaska COLA Survey Report

OPM published the "2003 Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living Allowance (COLA) Survey Report for the Alaska and Washington, DC, Areas" in the Federal Register on March 12, 2004, at 69 FR 12002. This report contains the results of the COLA surveys that OPM conducted in Alaska and the Washington, DC, area during the spring and summer of 2003.

Available formats: or [1.9 MB]

2002 Caribbean Area COLA Survey Report

OPM published the "2002 Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living Allowance Survey Report for the Caribbean and Washington, DC, Areas" in the Federal Register on February 9, 2004, at 69 FR 6023. This report contains the results of the COLA surveys that OPM conducted in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Washington, DC, area during the spring and summer of 2002.

Available formats: or [204 KB]

Archives

Listed by date of publication in the Federal Register. Items with asterisks (*) implement one or more rate changes.

08/04/2005	Proposed Rule: COLA Rate Changes		[93 KB]
08/04/2005	Notice: Revised Shelter Analyses		[111 KB]
10/06/2004	Final Rule: New Methodology Changes		[54 KB]
02/09/2004	Proposed Rule: New Methodology Changes		[96 KB]
05/03/2002	Final Rule: Methodology Changes		[73 KB]
11/09/2001	Proposed Rule: Methodology Changes		[68 KB]
11/09/2001	Interim Rule: Implementation of EO 10000 Changes		[30 KB]
11/09/2001	Final Rule: Rate Adjustments Adopted as Final		[95 KB]
10/03/2000	Interim Rule: Allowance Rate Adjustments*	[8 KB]	[121 KB]
07/17/2000	1998 Survey Report	[546 KB]	[457 KB]
07/17/2000	Interim Rule (Guam/CNMI Local Retail)*	[9 KB]	[214 KB]
07/17/2000	Final Rule (Honolulu)*	[4 KB]	[118 KB]