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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, along with an assessment of their probability
and impacts.
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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. |
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Sudden, unanticipated and
significant declines in railroad employment levels. |
Customer Service; Stewardship
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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. |
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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 or
structural legislative changes. |
Customer Service; Stewardship
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Unlikely. There have been
several proposals to change the structure of the agency, but none have been
introduced into the Congress for several years. |
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. |
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Lack of interagency
cooperation or support for key operations (e.g., SSA'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. |
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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. 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.
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