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2017 BAH Rates Out

IKE

IKE

Nerd Whirler
pilot
Just to stir the pot more...

While I used to get pissed about the w/-w/o BAH difference (when I was single). You can't really ask that question without also asking about ACIP, ACCP, reenlistment bonuses for different rates, etc. Someone in the DOD thinks (or thought) it's worth paying married folks a little more, or that they could get away with paying singles less. Stop whining and get married on paper, so you can enjoy all the other unfair goodies. Hell, find another servicemember and get the collocation benefits!
 
DanMa1156

DanMa1156

Is it baseball season yet?
pilot
Contributor
Re: entitlements

Didn't Congress increase BAH in the late 90's/early 2000's percentage wise (from a low of around 80% in that time frame) to the 100% rate we enjoyed for a bit, in order to increase pay/retention, but not increase the long term cost in the terms of retirement? With that in mind, I absolutely see it as a form of pay (and one more reason to not go down the dual mil spouse rabbit hole - and no - I do not have a dual mil marriage).
 
Brett327

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
DanMa1156 said:
Re: entitlements

Didn't Congress increase BAH in the late 90's/early 2000's percentage wise (from a low of around 80% in that time frame) to the 100% rate we enjoyed for a bit, in order to increase pay/retention, but not increase the long term cost in the terms of retirement? With that in mind, I absolutely see it as a form of pay (and one more reason to not go down the dual mil spouse rabbit hole - and no - I do not have a dual mil marriage).
Click to expand...
I do recall something to that effect, though I can't cite specifics. It's a touchy subject for some and certainly not immune to exploitation as a force-shaping tool. I chalk it up to one of the many things the Congress regulates that I have zero control over.
 
DanMa1156

DanMa1156

Is it baseball season yet?
pilot
Contributor
Brett327 said:
I do recall something to that effect, though I can't cite specifics. It's a touchy subject for some and certainly not immune for exploitation as a force-shaping tool. I chalk it up to one of the many things that the Congress regulates that I have zero control over.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Understood. I remember watching VADM Moran speak about it in a All Hands Call on TV (I was on the boat at the time), and he mentioned when he first started in the Navy they only paid 75% of BAH, so there should be no bellyaching about going down to 99%. It's now on it's way down to 95% by 2019, as I understand it.

From here: "By the late 1990s, the Defense Department persuaded Congress to make military housing allowances meaningful by setting BAH at 100% of median local housing costs. This standard was codified after years of budget cuts reducing BAH rates below actual housing costs. Between the FY 2014, FY 2015 and FY 2016 pay caps, the proposed BAH reductions, the reductions in commissary savings, and the new TRICARE fee structure, an E-5’s family of four would experience a loss of over $5,100 in purchasing power annually; and an O-3’s family of four would experience a loss of over $6,400."

I will say in the past 2 years, and this year especially, when I moved and got hit with the 97% (and the new calculation that doesn't include rental insurance) BAH instead of the 100% I had in San Diego, I've noticed my spending power has definitely gone down. By that much? I'm not sure. But I definitely have less leftover at the end of each month now, while using the same percentage of my BAH.
 
picklesuit

picklesuit

Dirty Hinge
pilot
Contributor
Okay, dumb (theoretical) question:
LT Pickle is getting O-3 BAH in Miltonia, FL starting in 2013. Rates decline in 2015, but LT Pickle is grandfathered into the old rate.

LT Pickle becomes LCDR Pickle. Is his BAH now O-4 2013 rate or O-4 2015 rate?
 
villanelle

villanelle

Nihongo dame desu
Contributor
picklesuit said:
Okay, dumb (theoretical) question:
LT Pickle is getting O-3 BAH in Miltonia, FL starting in 2013. Rates decline in 2015, but LT Pickle is grandfathered into the old rate.

LT Pickle becomes LCDR Pickle. Is his BAH now O-4 2013 rate or O-4 2015 rate?
Click to expand...

Husband experienced something similar, and got the hypothetical 2015 O-4 rate. Basically, the rule is that your BAH can never go down, and that's as far as the grandfathering goes. As it was explained to me, the reason for this is that someone makes decisions about living arrangements based on what they are told their pay will be, so it's not fair to decrease that when they are locked in to a lease. That's why you stay grandfathered as long as there's no PCS, even if you execute a new set of orders in the same location. Because you stay in the house you moved in to and committed to based on a certain number, so they won't decrease your housing pay. When you promote, your BAH is going up, so you get the rate for the current year (except in some weird scenario were that 2015 O-4 BAH rate is less than the 2013 O-3 rate). IOW, you are grandfathered in to a floor number. Anything above that ceiling number is acceptable and thus you'd get the regularly applicable rate for your rank and location.
 
sevenhelmet

sevenhelmet

Low calorie attack from the Heartland
pilot
Brett327 said:
I do recall something to that effect, though I can't cite specifics. It's a touchy subject for some and certainly not immune to exploitation as a force-shaping tool. I chalk it up to one of the many things the Congress regulates that I have zero control over.
Click to expand...

Why is it that whenever I hear the words "force shaping tool" I instinctively assume it will involve pain on my part?
 
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