European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 14, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday. August 14, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 9 Federal retirees running scared Tfir Eaf of tax squeeze Fias fens end to careers Washington api proposals to end a tax Windfall for retiring Federal employees is prompting Many workers to end their Careen this year to avoid being affected by any change enacted by Congress official say. The general accounting office found that retire menu Al the Fri jumped 211 percent in june from the same month in 198. The Pludy released this week also found thai retire menu in june increased 120 percent at the National aeronautic and space administration 80 percent Althe Federal aviation administration and 47 percent Al the social Security administration. Retirements Al the internal Revenue service where taxes Are a full time occupation were up 58 percent in june the study said. "1 Don t know if we have any inside information Laid irs spokesman Rod Young. People in he Agency Are hint As Good at Reading what columnists say bout the proposed  under current Law newty retired Federal workers do rut have to pay Federal taxes on their pension checks for three yeah or until they Are paid what they contributed to their annuity. The average Federal Retiree receives tax free pension Check for 19 months. The House tax Bill would have abruptly ended this provision As of Art july i. The Senate tax Bill phases mysterious tight in Eastern sky causes ufos Flap Syracuse . A residents of West Ern new York reported seeing a mysterious Light in the night sky and officials wednesday could not say whether it was an aircraft a rocket a meteor Shower or something else. I glanced up into the sky at about 10 15 p.m., and saw this White object spiralling. At first i thought it was an air plane or something said Edward j. Wiszkowski of Vesta. It looked like a Bunch of fireworks followed by a White  there were similar reports in other parts of the East. Robert Gribble a spokesman for the National ufos reporting Center in Seattle said he received More than too Calls from a Region bounded by Michigan Maine South Carolina and  said the Light must have been at least 100 Miles High to be seen Over so Large an area. It was like three lights at once red Green and White. It was flashing on and off said Tim Jones an air traffic controller at Syracuse air port who said he watched the lights for about 45 minutes Early wednesday. He said they periodically hovered and veered randomly. Workers at Cape Kennedy fta.,  american aerospace defense command in col Orado Springs colo., and the Nasa facility Artyv whups Island va., All confirmed that Toncre were no launches tuesday. It would probably be associated with the meteor showers said a Norad worker who de o the sightings As de scribed could not have been related to the per Seid meteor Shower an annual event Al this time of year that Makei shooting stars visible with greater frequency in the night sky. The Only explanation that i can give is thai i was some kind of government testing of a rocket said Paul t. Ackerman co presi astronomy  Ros a Sis pm Rai tie Hunts which were also seen by a Commer Cial Pilot registered on the Syracuse Airport s primary radar which is designed to ignore in identified he said. Out the Benefit Over a period of several years. Although Congress was far from final enactment of tax overhaul legislation in june Many Federal worke retired thai month to avoid any uncertainly Over their retirement Benefit according to officials of several agencies. A s certainly s  Fri spokesman Lane Bon  Nysmith a senior Nasa management offi Cial said Aboul half dozen lop space Agency executives retired last month because they did 1 want to take the risk the tax Law would l  he quoted these executives As saying if they Are going to change the rules on me 1 on afford it. It Spart of the retirement benefits i m counting  Nysmith said Many Federal employees plan their investment strategies around the lax Benefit. Capital gains from the Sale of Stock or other investments Are taxed at a much lower Rale during the period a new Retiree does t have any taxable pension income he  Farrar a spokesman for the Federal aviation admin Slation said the Agency had not done a study to determine if the proposed tax change was the primary reason for 202 retirements in june. But we can surmise it had a great Deal to do with in Farrar said. There were 184 retirements from the Faa in May up 69 percent from the 109 during May 1985, Accord ing to the Gao report. None of the officials contacted said the increased retirements had caused a manpower squeeze at their agencies. We believe that we have an ample and adequate manpower Pool to Supply our manpower needs in executive and supervisory positions Bonne said. At the Faa the increased retirements have not Cre ated a shortage of air traffic controllers or other employees involved in airline safety Farrar said. The Gao study which did no contain any explanations for the retirement figures also found that May retirements increased 82 percent at the army 131 per cent at the Fri 82 percent Al Nasa and 13 percent at the Navy. The threat of the change has apparently been on i reminds of Federal workers since december when the House passed its version of the tax overhaul Bill. Retirements from oct. I 1985, through june 30 increased 35 percent at the Fri 22 percent at the army 23 percent at Nasa 16 percent Al the irs and 13 percent at the Faa from the same period last year. There also was a 17 percent increase in retirement1 at the slate department. But there was a 5 percent decline in retirements among civilian Navy employees Between october and june. Army ordered to test payments for underweight goods shipments by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington the House armed services committee has directed the army to test a program offering Cash awards to servicemen tubers who ship sub Stant adv less than their household goods weight limit on official moves. The lest required by the House version of the fiscal 1987 defense authorization Bill will be conducted alone location during the first half of fiscal 1987. The test site has not been selected. The committee wanted the concept tested last year but Dod officials argued then Liat service members already were shipping an average of about 3,000 pounds leu than their weigh limit. Dod officials fear that authorizing Cash incentives would result in some service members giving up family possessions they otherwise would keep just to get the Cash. But the committee report on the Biu slates the committee continues to believe that a Cash incentive to ship fewer household goods May result in Cost savings for the government As part of the army s test evaluation service members at the selected installation should Complete a questionnaire As part of their  the report added the questionnaire should ask whether and to what extent they divested themselves of household goods in order to receive a Cash pay  under the test plan the army would offer the Cash incentives to military personnel with family members whose household goods shipments fall below a base line figure. That figure is 50 percent of the allowance for offi cers and 40 percent of the allowance for enlisted personnel. The amount of the incentive would be half the ship Ping Cost per Pound for every Pound under the base line. For example a major with family members Wouldhave to ship less than 6,000 pounds half the allowance of 12,000 pounds to be eligible for the Cash payment. The amount of the payment would depend on the number of pounds under 6,000 shipped. If 2,000pounds less were shipped and the shipping Cost is 76 cents per Pound the government would pay an award of $760. The figure results from multiplying 2,000 by 38 cents half of 76 cents. Using this example the Cost to the government would be 13,800 4,000 pounds shipped multiplied by 76 cents per Pound plus the $760 incentive the cos would have been $9,120 if the major had shipped the full allowance of 12,000 pounds. Dod adopts 350-mile Standard in computing pcs per diem travel by Chuck Vinch Washington Bort Washington under a change in join travel regulations service member on permanent change of station orders now Musl travel 50 Miles per Day farther to get credit for an official travel Day. The change effective aug. I Means that service met Eben must now travel 350 Miles per Day instead of the decades old Standard of 300 Miles said an official with the defense department s per diem travel and transportation allowance committee. The mileage figure is used to compute per diem figures and travel time the official said. Under the change a service member who travels 350 Miles Quali fies for one Day s per diem pay and one Day s absence from duty in order to receive credit for a second travel Day service member now must travel at least 176 addition Al Miles beyond the 350. That a an increase from the old figure of 151 Miles. Under the change if a service member s new duty station is 52s Miles or less from the old duly station the services will allow Only one Day of per diem and travel time. If the distance is Between 526 and 875miles, the service member will be credited for two travel Days. From there the figures increase in 350-mile increments. A distance Between 876 and 1,225 Miles would allow three travel Days. The 350-mile Rule applies to the official distance Between old and new duty stations not the distance the service member actually travels. The Dod official said the change was made because the old Standard of 300 Miles was put into effect in the Early 1950s, before the . Interstate Highway system Mem completed. He said service member can now easily cover 350 Miles per Day. The change brings the defense department into line with most other Federal agencies which also use the 350-mile Standard to compute per diem and travel time for employees