The Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 created a system that allowed for pay adjustments for federal employees who reside in areas with a high cost of living. There are currently 53 General Schedule (GS) locality areas. The Tampa Bay region, which is home to MacDill Air Force Base, is not one of them. During the September 2023 trip to Washington D.C. by the Tampa Bay Chamber and a delegation of business leaders from Hillsborough County, the local group advocated for a change that would allow an increase in the annual wage of federal employees to include areas within a 45-minute drive time of the base. The change in locality pay would be part of a reevaluation of what’s called the Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs).
“Unfortunately, Tampa has not been able to qualify for locality pay which leaves MacDill Air Force Base unable to compete with the private sector,” said Lauren Valiente, Executive Committee Member of the Tampa Bay Chamber. Valiente and others in the Chamber delegation met with the White House and elected officials to advocate for an MSA reevaluation, specifically for the base and its surrounding areas. This approach would provide more accurate wage data and improve recruitment and retention efforts, ultimately enhancing mission readiness for the Department of Defense.
Communities that do not fall within the 53 designated General Schedule (GS) locality areas in the nation, fall under the 54th category known as the “Rest of U.S.” (RUS) category. By definition, areas that are in the RUS locality should not be more expensive to live in than the national average. Due to current RUS status limitations, units across MacDill Air Force Base are experiencing difficulties recruiting and retaining staff. As a result, units are carrying a high percentage of vacant positions, which negatively impacts the mission readiness of the Department of Defense.
To calculate estimates of pay disparities, the President’s Pay Agent asks The Bureau of Labor Statistics to calculate annual wage estimates by area, occupation, and GS grade level. These estimates are then weighed by National Federal Employment to arrive at wage estimates by broad occupation group and grade for each pay area. The Tampa Bay region has experienced rapid, sustained growth, which has transformed its economic base to a diverse, highly skilled workforce. What was once considered primarily a tourism-based economy has developed into a more robust economic system with a mature technology segment that competes with the rest of the nation to recruit, hire, train, and retain a highly skilled workforce.
The methodology by the Federal Salary Council does not accurately capture the levels of compensation provided by non-federal employers who are the competition to federal employers in the region. The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas. While the Pay Agent has not previously supported the idea of splitting an MSA, the blended average of statistical wage data of the four-county MSA of Tampa Bay is not reflective the of workforce realities in Tampa/Hillsborough County, home to MacDill Air Force Base, and where most of the area’s civilian federal employees live. A 45-minute drive time from MacDill Aire Force Base would preclude the inclusion of wage data from Hernando, Pasco, and Pinellas.
The Tampa Bay Chamber supports the reevaluation of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) to only include areas within a 45-minute drive time of MacDill Air Force Base. This approach would provide more accurate wage data and improve recruitment and retention efforts, ultimately enhancing mission readiness for the Department of Defense.
In January 2023, U.S. Central Command marked its 40th anniversary at Mac Dill Air Force Base. The base has an estimated annual economic impact in our region of $3 billion and is also home to the 6th Air Refueling Wing; the 927th Air Refueling Wing; the U.S. Coast Guard; Joint Communications Support Element; and U.S. Special Operations Command.