COLA drops again at four posts in Japan

[unhappycamper]

COLA drops again at four posts in Japan
By Vince Little, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, October 5, 2007

Servicemembers at three Navy bases and one Army post in Japan have seen their COLA allowance drop four points in the past month, with the latest two-point dip hitting them this week, according to the Defense Department’s Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allowance Committee Web site.

The Cost of Living Allowance rate fell by two points for all troops in Japan and Okinawa on Sept. 16. It fell again Monday by the same rate at Yokosuka Naval Base, Atsugi Naval Air Facility, Sasebo Naval Base and Camp Zama, but held steady elsewhere in Japan and Okinawa.

The COLA index is used as a guideline to determine how much money servicemembers receive. Amounts depend on duty station, rank, time in service and number of dependents.

In addition, troops living in barracks receive only 47 percent of the COLA index, according to the allowance committee’s Web site.

For an E-6 at Yokosuka with eight years in the Navy and two family members, the allowance has dropped by $5.21 a day — to current $28.90 from $34.11 on Sept. 1. For a single E-4 with three years of service living in the Yokosuka dorms, the daily COLA has fallen to $8.74 from $10.23.

The COLA changes are based on two surveys — the Living Pattern Survey that studies where the troops shop and what they buy, and the Retail Price Schedule that measures how much those items cost at those stores.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=49263



uhc comment: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,114242,00.html sez:

COLA Falling for Servicemembers in Japan
Stars and Stripes | By Juliana Gittler | September 11, 2006


TOKYO — Servicemembers in Japan can blame inflation that doesn’t even affect them for shrunken paychecks starting in November.

Cost of living allowances will be lowered due to rising costs in the United States, even though prices have remained the same in Japan. The COLA rates are some of the lowest in a decade.

COLA is paid to compensate for higher costs of living overseas. As prices in the States go up and the prices in Japan remain the same, there is less difference to compensate for, so COLA goes down.

If inflation means less spending power for stateside servicemembers, it has to equal that overseas.

~snip~

The rate increase for 2005 over 2004 was 3.4 percent, the latest full-year government figure available. In August 2006 prices were 3.8 percent more than in August 2005.

Each year, the Pentagon measures consumer prices across the globe by examining the cost of 120 goods and services in each location. The prices are correlated, then COLA everywhere is adjusted annually.

The same thing happened this time last year, Darmofal said.

Exchange rates also can affect COLA. When the rate change is significant enough it triggers a COLA index change, which occurred this summer.


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