If I work as a consultant and am paid a flat fee by a school district, is this considered working on a fee basis for a state or local government?

[JohnW15 · Accepted solution]

No, this isn't considered fee-basis income.

A fee-based public official is a person who receives and retains remuneration directly from the public.

A person who receives payment for services from government funds in the form of a wage or salary is not a fee-based public official, even if the compensation might be labeled as fee.

For more information, please see the article on the Social Security website, Fee-Based Public Officials.  

[Retiree1]

Thanks for the feedback! The words "retains" and "directly from the public" helped.

[JohnW15]

You're welcome!  The whole "fee basis" label throws everyone off...