New Soldiers to Fort Jackson could find their paychecks lighter as housing allowance rates have dipped.
The decreases were partially caused by Congress calling for Service members to pay one percent of Basic Allowance for Housing each year for five years. The five-year plan was implemented to reduce personnel costs. The cost to cover renters' insurance was also eliminated starting in 2015.
BAH rates have also declined due to the local housing market, said Emma Watson, Fort Jackson's housing division chief.
BAH rate cuts were part of a compromise between House and Senate armed services committees on the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. The Act also called for increased co-pays for off-post prescriptions.
According to the Defense Travel Management Office, BAH is an allowance prescribed by duty location, pay grade, and dependency status. It provides uniformed Service members equitable subsidy based on housing costs in local civilian housing markets when government quarters are not available.
Watson said the BAH rates are affected by off post rental rates within a reasonable commuting distance.
Local housing costs are compiled by a third party, contracted by the Army, with input from the Fort Jackson Housing Division. Rates are then finalized by the Office the Secretary of Defense Compensation.
We do a comparison of rental properties "to ensure an accurate correlation between the rental rates and the housing allowance," Watson said.
OSD sets housing-type based on the annual salary and dwelling type for the civilian population. For example, individuals outside the gate making $25,000 "typically" live in an apartment, those making $45,000-$50,000 live in townhouses or duplexes, and those making over that will typically reside in single homes.
"Based on those anchor points, we go out and look at rental rates, minus utilities, for apartments, townhouses, duplexes, and single homes," Watson said. "It's a comparison of dwelling type to salary."
This year, a sergeant with dependents receives $1,392 a month down, $24 from 2015, while a sergeant major's BAH with dependents dipped $36 to $1,773. Meanwhile, the allowance for a lieutenant colonel with dependents declined $261 to $2,067 per month, and a colonel's subsidy dropped $267.
"The rental market is very competitive," she said. "When rentals sit vacant, owners and property managers may lower their rent to attract tenants and this has a direct impact on the BAH reporting." Lower rent means lower BAH rates.
But not all rates "will decrease, some grades saw an increase this year. "The rate is based on the market rate outside the gate and some properties were higher this year," Watson concluded.
Soldiers assigned to Fort Jackson prior to Jan. 1 are not affected by the change in BAH rates as they are grandfathered. This applies whether they reside on or off the installation.
Residents living in on post housing have landscaping, trash removal, water/sewage and utilities included in their rent. New homes are metered for electricity and if usage exceeds the baseline residents will be charged the overage. The good news is if they are under their baseline, they will receive a refund check from us, said Melissa Robinson with Balfour Beatty.
The decreases in BAH over the past few years has caused Balfour Beatty to look closely at the some of the services they provide but they're still able to provide LifeWorks programs that include various family wellness activities for residents at no costs.
Balfour Beatty community center includes an internet café, exercise room, meeting room and a full kitchen for our residents to use and a boundless, playground is available for special needs children as well as other outdoor amenities.
Sometimes "they are not seeing all those extras," she said.
"I've seen a lot of tenants leave to go live off post and then after finding out we provide more for the money say, 'I want to come back on post,'" said Robinson.
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