Federal Employee Transit Subsidy Increased (Reston: contractor, vouchers, tax)

[KathyR]

Can someone tell me why federal workers can't pay for their own transportation to work like the rest of America?

[pcity]

Originally Posted by KathyR

Can someone tell me why federal workers can't pay for their own transportation to work like the rest of America?

Well, they could all drive instead, but then people like you would be complaining about federal workers clogging up the roads.

[vermonter16]

Originally Posted by pcity

Well, they could all drive instead, but then people like you would be complaining about federal workers clogging up the roads.

This argument doesn't follow...with or without the subsidy...why can't they still take mass transit if that's what they've already been doing?

My husband is a federal employee....and trust me, I'm not complaining about the benefits he receives....but it does seem to be a little over the top.

[ChristineVA]

Private companies offer this benefit to. Not all do, of course. I worked for a small company before I became a fed and they provided us with a transportation subsidy equal to the what the government provided. As an added perk, the subsidy covered by parking costs. The company got to write it off as a fringe benefit.

[normie]

Originally Posted by pcity

Well, they could all drive instead, but then people like you would be complaining about federal workers clogging up the roads.

Exactly. Encouraging them to use transit benefits us all.

[ajzjmsmom]

Originally Posted by KathyR

Can someone tell me why federal workers can't pay for their own transportation to work like the rest of America?

people think traffic is insane now, it would be even worse if all the federal employees started driving

[Mike From NIU]

Originally Posted by KathyR

Can someone tell me why federal workers can't pay for their own transportation to work like the rest of America?

As Christine mentioned, this is not a federal govt. only perk. It's part of the internal revenue code (§132(f)- concerning fringe benefits). All Employers can pay for employees' parking or for public transit up to a certain amount per month tax-free to the employees. In the code, both parking and public transit started as a base amount that is indexed to inflation, but the allowed parking subsidy was higher ($175 v. $100, with inflation index had increased to $230 v $120). The Recovery Act billed equalized the amount that could be provided tax free for public transit to take away some of the incentive towards driving over public transit. However, that change to the tax code is set to expire 12/31/2010.

If employers don't want to pay outright for their employees' parking or public transit expense, there is another way for their employees to benefit. Employees can have the money for parking/transit passes taken out of their paycheck pre-tax, subject to the maximum monthly limits.

So, federal employees, especially those in the DC area, definitely benefit from this benefit. However, most major corporations in metropolitan areas participate in this program in one way or another, usually by providing subsidized parking. Even the small non-profit I worked for in Chicago participated by allowing me to buy a monthly CTA pass with pre-tax dollars, which saved me about $13-15/month at the time.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by Mike From NIU

As Christine mentioned, this is not a federal govt. only perk. It's part of the internal revenue code (§132(f)- concerning fringe benefits). All Employers can pay for employees' parking or for public transit up to a certain amount per month tax-free to the employees. In the code, both parking and public transit started as a base amount that is indexed to inflation, but the allowed parking subsidy was higher ($175 v. $100, with inflation index had increased to $230 v $120). The Recovery Act billed equalized the amount that could be provided tax free for public transit to take away some of the incentive towards driving over public transit. However, that change to the tax code is set to expire 12/31/2010.

If employers don't want to pay outright for their employees' parking or public transit expense, there is another way for their employees to benefit. Employees can have the money for parking/transit passes taken out of their paycheck pre-tax, subject to the maximum monthly limits.

So, federal employees, especially those in the DC area, definitely benefit from this benefit. However, most major corporations in metropolitan areas participate in this program in one way or another, usually by providing subsidized parking. Even the small non-profit I worked for in Chicago participated by allowing me to buy a monthly CTA pass with pre-tax dollars, which saved me about $13-15/month at the time.

Thanks for the clarification. As a newish-government employee, I hate getting beat up on (especially these days). Many, many government contractors (which are being paid by the taxpayer too) are getting these same benefits.

I would like to make clear, though, that the government does not extend this benefit to federal employees who pay for parking. That's on their own dime. The only subsidy is for mass transit. The private companies seem to be subsidizing for mass transit AND parking.

[pcity]

Originally Posted by vermonter16

This argument doesn't follow...with or without the subsidy...why can't they still take mass transit if that's what they've already been doing?

For some (possibly many) people, the subsidy is what tips the scales in favor of mass transit. Free (or at least, heavily discounted) is hard to pass up.

[JfromReston]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

I would like to make clear, though, that the government does not extend this benefit to federal employees who pay for parking. That's on their own dime. The only subsidy is for mass transit. The private companies seem to be subsidizing for mass transit AND parking.

Some parts of the government do have subsidized parking -at my Agency there are limited subsidized parking spots for carpools and executives. A memo circulated this week, in addition to the one indicating that the transit subsidy will go down, indicated that the subsidized parking rate will go up on January 1st for the same reason that the transit subsidy will be going down.