Looks like at least for the last few years, the patent office has spent approximately the amount it takes in as fees: "estimated base fee collections for 2016

Looks like at least for the last few years, the patent office has spent approximately the amount it takes in as fees: "estimated base fee collections for 2016 of $3.207 billion. This forecasted amount of fee collection revenue continues a trend of year over year increases in fee collections from the 2015 estimate ($3.142 billion) and the actual 2014 collections ($3.024 billion). The total budgeted program level for the USPTO during the 2016 fiscal year has also been growing incrementally year over year. The total estimated obligations of the PTO for 2016 are $3.499 billion, over $150 million more than 2015’s estimated obligations ($3.331 billion) and about $500 more than actual 2014 obligations ($2.997 billion)." http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2015/02/05/usptos-budget-increases-for-fy2016/id=54450/ http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2015/02/05/usptos-budget-increases...