|
The RRB recognizes that there are several key factors external to the agency
which could affect the achievement of our strategic goals and objectives. These
include the factors shown below.
| Significant reductions
in our administrative budget. |
Customer Service; Stewardship |
Possible. |
The
Performance Budget will reflect the impact of funding reductions on these
goals. To date, the RRB has managed to improve some aspects of
operations within budget constraints, using various streamlining initiatives
and automation of manual work processes. |
| Lack of
interagency cooperation or support for key operations (e.g., Social Security
Administration's wage and data exchange, and the Internal Revenue Service’s
tax collections). |
Customer Service; Stewardship
|
Unlikely.
As other agencies find themselves operating with fewer resources, there is a
possibility that their reductions would impact our services. |
The RRB
depends heavily on interagency cooperation and support to carry out many of
our functions and services. We will continue to maintain contacts with
key agencies to ensure active coordination and support. |
| Sudden,
unanticipated and significant declines in railroad employment levels. |
Customer Service; Stewardship
|
Possible.
Payroll taxes are the primary source of financing for railroad retirement
benefits. If economic conditions change significantly, rail industry
employers may be required to substantially reduce staffing. Currently,
we anticipate such action only under a pessimistic employment scenario. |
In the past,
declines in railroad employment have resulted in legislation to ensure the
solvency of the railroad retirement system. A similar need for
legislative changes may arise if there were a dramatic, sudden, unexpected
decline in railroad employment. The impact could be mitigated if
alternate sources of financing are identified. |
Major, program-related legislative changes.
|
Customer Service; Stewardship |
Possible. |
The impact of any legislative
changes on the strategic goals would have
to be fully assessed. |
| Major, mission-related
legislative changes. |
Customer Service; Stewardship
|
Unlikely.
There have been several proposals to change the structure of the agency, but
none have been introduced into the Congress at this time. |
Legislative changes
dealing with the agency’s fundamental
mission are not anticipated, and their impact
would have to be fully assessed if and when
proposals are made. |
| Loss of public confidence
in the railroad retirement system and the
ability of the agency to provide necessary
services. |
Stewardship |
Unlikely.
The continued confidence of both railroad employers and employees and the
beneficiary population is a critical factor. As customer satisfaction
remains high, a loss of public confidence is unlikely, provided
administrative funding is not significantly reduced. |
We will
continue to monitor the solvency of the funds, and look for ways to ensure
administrative efficiencies to keep costs low. We will also continue
to monitor our customers’ level of satisfaction. |
In developing this plan, we recognized that there are a number of potential
strategic issues that may arise during the coming years which relate to various
external factors listed above. These include, but are not limited to, changes in
basic program design, alternative sources of financing, transferring functions
to other agencies, establishing performance-based organizations, and
privatization. Issues of this nature could cause fundamental changes in the
RRB’s programs, operations, structure, and/or financing, and thereby directly
impact this plan.
|
.
We recommend using the latest version.
