European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 10, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday december 10, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 9 married service members bad changed by   staff writer Heidelberg the . Comp Lenl ice general has ordered a change in Basic allowance for quarters for All Servic Mcm bars married to each other. Under the change Only one member can continue to draw the bad with do pendants rate unless the two live apart because of duty assignments us Arhur finance officials said. The other member must receive the lower bad without do pc dents rate. The new regulation applies to two mar ried  who live together even if they had dependent children before their marriage arc assigned to adjacent stations or arc not assigned Fumiko govern ment quarters a Sarll r finance spokesman said. Service members must decide which spouse is to receive the bad with do pc dents rate. If they cannot agree the higher rate will go to the More senior member the spokesman said. The change among military members in Europe mostly will affect those in the army. A Safe finance spokesman said Only a few air Force couples stationed in Europe were affected by the decision. Navy finance officials said the Navy Al ready is p dying in accordance with the  the decision became effective in August some couples received overpay ments of raq for at least three months and will be rcquircc1 to repay the Money.1 or example two married soldiers with dependents and in the nay Grade of e-5 each received bad with depend cats Rale of 5309.jo or a total of  under the old system. Under the new system the couple will get Only j520.20 since one will draw the with depend ends rate of $309.30 and the other the without  rate of $210.90. The difference of $98.40 per month Means the couple owes the govern ment $295.20 for the three months. Raq Rales vary by pay Grade so some couples m in incur a larger debt than others. Usa eur officials said All service members affected by the ruling must immediately inform their servicing finance office in order to prevent further of Cripi ments and for corrective action to be started. 1,300 is won f have of return overpayment by Brenda Hoster staff writer Heidelberg about 1,300 Soldier sin Europe who received a Lota of $850,000 in rent plus overpayment last year will nol have to return the Money because applications for remission were approved usar eur finance officials said. Rent plus which was changed to Over seas housing allowance in october is de signed to reimburse soldiers for actual rental expenses within maximum rental ceilings. Real ceilings vary Between pay grades and location. Several thousand overpayment were found within Usa eur during an inter Nal audit last year. We found that numerous soldiers were being overpaid because of different interpretations of the Complex guidance set for the methods and amounts of payment said Sec. Michael Donohuk Usa eur staff finance no. Some messages con Taining changes to the guidance were nol received and input for inc allowance was made under the old system resulting in the  although inc army made the mistake Donohuk said that does not relieve the Soldier of the debt. The Soldier should have been notified and Given options on How to repay the debt. If no notification was made then the debt May have been collected automatically he said. We  instituted a com Mand remission and cancellation program called project Green. The program Al Lowed for each command to submit applications for remission for those overpaid soldiers instead of every Soldier submitting an  if the application for remission is approved the debt is forgiven. Any Soldier who has not settled the debt or had his command submit an application for remission should Contact his Chain of command to determine the status of the overpayment Donohuk said. Soldiers who had the Money automatically collected from their pay before they were granted a remission must request a refund waiver in order to get any of the Money Back. New overseas housing allowance guide lines arc being established which will make inc entitlement easier to compute Don Kuc said. The changes to be announced in the next two weeks will be effective april 1. Troop Cut talks continue in Spain Madrid Spain a Spanish and . Negotiators monday opened their second round of two Day talks on the reduction of . Troops in Spain amid assurances by prime minister Felipe Gonzalez thai if the . Docs not agree to reduce its military presence his government would see that the cuts were made unilaterally. Before monday s session began. Foreign minister fran Cisco Fernandez Ordonez told reporters he hoped the United states would agree this month to begin formal negotiations to reduce its military presence in  the . Learn headed by ambassador Thomas o. Enders has avoided any direct reference in Public statements to troop reduction saying the talks were in tended to study the contribution of the United slates and Spain to Western  the first round was held oct. 23-25. The current talks were scheduled to end tuesday. There Are approximately 12,000 . Military personnel and 1,400 civilians on four bases leased from Spain under an agreement made with Gen. Francisco Franco in 1953. There Are air bases at Torrejon outside Madrid and at Zaragoza to the Northeast one naval station at Rota on the South Atlantic coast and a firing Range it Moron do la Frontera in the Southwest. Gonzalez maintains the troops arc a carryover from the repressive Franco times and most arc not necessary in a Western european context with Spain As a member of the North Atlantic treaty organization. In the past several weeks the socialist prime minister has made it Clear that if the us. Refuses to agree to troop reductions Spain will unilaterally decide to renegotiate the 1953 military cooperation treaty. The latest five year Extension of the treaty was approved by his government in 1983. Some of his critics says Gonzalez is pressing for the reduction As a Trade off to spaniards who Are to Vole in a referendum next year on the country s continued membership in nato. Recent polls indicate More than half of the country voters Are opposed to Spain s remaining in the Alliance. Which it joined under a can list government in 19x2. Unclaimed baggage Offenbach Germany is warehouse personnel Are trying to locate service members and civilians i Europe who have not claimed their unaccompanied bag it a v corps spokesman  left unclaimed for 120 to 180 Days is subject to