Edwards military personnel to receive COLA

  • Published
  • By Stephen K. Robinson
  • 95 ABW/PA
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - --  Effective Jan. 1, 2012, Continental U.S. Cost of Living Allowance was instituted for military members stationed at Edwards.

CONUS COLA is used to compensate for a portion of excess costs for non-housing expenses incurred in areas that exceed the average cost of living by more than 8 percent. CONUS COLA is the taxable allowance servicemembers will receive.

"CONUS COLA is a monthly entitlement based on a 30-day month, the same as Basic Allowance for Housing," said Tech. Sgt. Della Santiago, 95th Comptroller Squadron, Financial Services flight chief.

"Servicemembers should check their February end-of-month leave and earning statements to ensure they have received the allotted CONUS COLA for their pay grade ---- this entitlement will read "COLA" on the LES. If they do not receive a COLA entitlement by their February end-of-month LES, which is received on March 1, they should contact the 95th CPTS Financial Customer Service office for corrections at customer.service@edwards.af.mil" Santiago said.

The amount of CONUS COLA each service members receives is based on three main factors: the service members pay grade and years of service; the service members family status and duty station zip code.

A service member expects to be stationed anywhere in the country during their career. They are likely to be assigned to a variety of low-, moderate- and high-cost-of-living locations. To help offset the effects of higher cost areas, military servicemembers may be eligible for CONUS COLA.

"A service member can determine if they are eligible for CONUS COLA by using the CONUS COLA calculator at http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/conusCalc.cfm, Santiago said. "It is the most effective way to see if the member is eligible."

CONUS COLA indexes are adjusted annually based on new cost data as determined by the local market prices and access to and utilization of military commissaries and exchange services. This data is assembled from several sources: (1) Local market price data is purchased from a private contractor; (2) information pertaining to the availability of commissaries and exchanges is provided by their parent organizations; (3) average savings information generated by commissaries and exchanges is also provided by the parent organizations; and (4) CONUS-wide surveys, roughly every three years, determine the utilization rate and the savings generated by availability of commissaries and exchanges.

The list of current CONUS COLA locations, and amount that will be paid for a specific location by rank and number of years of service, can found on the Per Diem Committee Home Page at https://secureapp2.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem .

Further information regarding CONUS COLA can be found at the following websites.

http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/faqconus.cfm and http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/conusCostCalc.cfm.

Source information for this article is the following website: http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/conus.cfm and the 95th Comptroller Squadron, here.


                                    Edwards Air Force Base Cost of Living Allowance
                                    Pay         Years of    With Eligible          Without Eligible
                                    Grade    Service      Family Members   Family Members
                                    E-1         (- than 2)            $24                          $18
                                    E-1         (with 2)               $24                          $18
                                    E-2         (- than 2)            $25                          $18
                                    E-2         (with 2)               $25                          $18
                                    E-3         (- than 2)            $26                          $18
                                    E-3         (with 4)               $26                          $18
                                    E-4         (- than 2)            $26                          $19
                                    E-4         (with 6)               $27                          $19
                                    E-5         (with 6)               $30                          $21
                                    E-5         (with 10)             $29                          $22
                                    E-6         (with 10)             $32                          $24
                                    E-6         (with 20)             $32                          $25
                                    E-7         (with 10)             $33                          $25
                                    E-7         (with 20)             $35                          $26
                                    E-8         (with 20)             $37                          $28
                                    E-8         (with 26)             $39                          $30
                                    E-9         (with 20)             $40                          $31
                                    E-9         (with 26)             $43                          $33
                                    O-1         (- than 2)            $30                          $21
                                    O-1         (with 2)               $30                          $24
                                    O-2         (- than 2)            $31                          $24
                                    O-2         (with 2)               $32                          $26
                                    O-3         (- than 2)            $33                          $26
                                    O-3         (with 4)               $37                          $28
                                    O-4         (with 10)             $44                          $33
                                    O-4         (with 20)             $46                          $35
                                    O-5         (with 10)             $46                          $35
                                    O-5         (with 20)             $50                          $37
                                    O-6         (with 20)             $50                          $38
                                    O-6         (with 26)             $50                          $38
                                    O-7         (with 24)             $50                          $38
                                    O-7         (with 30)             $50                          $38
                                    O-8         (with 24)             $50                          $38
                                    O-8         (with 30)             $50                          $38

For more information and greater specifics on COLA at Edwards, see the following link: http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/conus.cfm