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Need Help - check here first?
A.
Participation/Eligibility:
B.
Cost/Fees:
C.
Security:
D.
Due Process/Debtor Notification:
E.
Data Transmission/Notification:
F.
Debtor Issues:
G.
Debts: H.
Other:
What units of government are eligible to participate? 1) County (to the extent it is not considered a state agency) 2) Municipality 3) Water and Sewer Authority (created under Article 1 of Chapter 162A of the General Statutes) 4) Regional Joint Agency (created by interlocal agreement under Article 20 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes
between two or more counties, municipalities or both) 5) Public Health Authority (created under Part 1B of Article 2 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes) 6) Metropolitan Sewerage District (created under Article 5 of Chapter 162A of the General Statutes) 7) Sanitary District (created under Part 2 of Article 2 of Chapter 1302A of the General Statutes) New Participants: 1)
Set-up
account with N.C. Capital Management Trust of the Carolinas 2)
Process all of the following and send to either the N.C. Association of County
Commissioners or the N.C. League of Municipalities:
a) Sign, and mail or fax, the N. C. Capital Management Trust Inter-Fund
Trust Authorization Form
http://www.ncsetoff.org/InterFundTransfer.pdf
b) Sign, and
mail or fax, the Memorandum of Understanding
http://www.ncsetoff.org/MemorandumofUnderstanding.pdf c)
Sign, and mail or fax, the Local Agency Certification
http://www.ncsetoff.org/LocalAgencyCertification.pdf
d) Sign, and
mail or fax, the Multiple Unit Collection Rider (if applicable)
http://www.ncsetoff.org/MultipleUnitCollectionRider.pdf e) Complete, print, sign, and mail or fax, the online Participation
Form
2008ParticipationForm.htm Annual Renewals:
a) Sign, and
mail or fax, the Multiple Unit Collection Rider (if applicable)
http://www.ncsetoff.org/MultipleUnitCollectionRider.pdf
b) Complete, print, sign, and mail or fax, the online Participation
Form
Do we have to have an account with a specific financial institution in order to participate? Yes, you must have an account with the North Carolina Capital Management Trust
of the Carolinas.
For information, call toll-free (800) 222-3232. Click
here to view a copy of the Inter-fund
Transfer Authorization form. (Back to Top)
Are there any costs for the local governments to participate with the Clearinghouse? No, there are no costs, neither one-time or recurring, in order to participate with the Clearinghouse. All software and support is provided to all participants. The only cost is for the optional Hard copy forms where the Clearinghouse enters your debtors and debts. Costs
for the Clearinghouse to enter data from hard copy forms:
Is there any cost to the debtor, if so how much? Yes, legislation allows for the cost of collection from the
Clearinghouse is passed on to the debtor as an
administrative fee. If the debtor has a tax refund greater than $50, the debtor is charged a $15 processing fee. If the debtor has multiple debts
greater than $50, then there is a $15 processing fee for each debt. However, there is only one $15 processing fee per debt per Calendar Year. If a debtor submits two tax refunds in one Calendar Year,
such as a regular return and an amended return there is only one $15 processing fee for that particular debt. (Back to Top)
Yes, the Department of Revenue and Education Lottery are legislated to apply a $5 processing fee to each tax refund
that is setoff or lottery
winning over $600. While multiple $15 Clearinghouse
transaction fees processing fees as part of a tax refund setoff, there is only one $5 Department of Revenue
or Education Lottery fee. (Back to Top)
No, the North Carolina Capital Management Trust does not
charge any fees for the transfer from the Department of Revenue nor for the
deposit into a local governments account. (Back to Top)
Is the transfer of data to and from the Clearinghouse over the Internet secure? The Clearinghouse uses the most secure transfer of data available. It is called Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and
has 128-bit encryption. One of our highest priorities is to ensure your
privacy and peace of mind by employing some of the most advanced online security
measures in the industry.
Are we assigned a Username and Password? Yes, you will be assigned a unique Username and Password for your Client Application software and/or
the Secure Web Browser. The password is a smart password made up of a combination of many different keyboard characters. This is for the
protection of your debtor information both on your computer system and ours. Please protect this Username and Password.
Does the password ever expire? Yes, your password will expire at least once each calendar year. The Clearinghouse will contact
you and provide you the new smart password.
Can we request that the password be changed? Yes, you can request your password be changed at anytime. Anytime you have personnel changes it is
a good time to request a password change.
Can any other local government entity view our debt information? No, when you send data it is stored in your own secure folder on our system. Your Userid and Password provide
the secure access to your data.
Does the Clearinghouse share debtor information with any other companies or individuals? No, the Clearinghouse will not sell, share, trade or discuss any information that is submitted by local governments. We only send this information
to the North Carolina Department of Revenue. Yes, we encourage you to "get the word out" that your local government will be participating in this
debt recovery program. Many debtors will pay their debts before you even submit their debts to the Clearinghouse.
Do we have to notify the debtors in writing? Yes, you must send a letter to each debtor that you are submitting to the Clearinghouse.
Do we have to notify the debtors by certified mail? No, you can send via normal U.S. postal service. No special services such as certified mail,
registered mail, return receipt or delivery confirmation is required.
What if we know we don't have a current address for a debtor? You are only required to submit to the last known address. Even if you get an updated address you do not have to re-send.
Do we have to keep records of what debtors we notified by mail? Yes, we recommend you keep some type of electronic or hardcopy proof of your mailings to debtors in the event of an appeal
by the debtor. Retain this information according to the state regulations
associated with retention of public documents.
Can we send notification letters without actually
sending the debts to the Clearinghouse? Yes, you can send letters without submitting the data to the Clearinghouse. Many local governments have received
tremendous interest and payments just on the notification letters. However, since you've gone to the expense of the mailing costs for notification we
suggest you proceed with the submission to the Clearinghouse for even further recovery of your debts.
Are there any sample notification letters? Here are a few different types (all in Microsoft Word): 1) Detailed - requires special report writing from your I.T. staff
Works
with the Client Software: 2) Simple
#1 (PDF version to View) (MS Word - select Save) 3) Simple
#2 (PDF version to View) (MS
Word - select Save)
How does my local government send data files of debts to the Clearinghouse? The Client application software has a secure
transfer built-in to the application. As long as you have an Internet connection
it will send and receive data files with the Clearinghouse. Or
you can use our secure website,
https://setoff.fivestarcomputing.com. You will be provided a Userid
and Password to access. This allows you to send an ASCII or EXCEL file. By 5:00 PM on Friday. The Clearinghouse
processes all data from the local governments the following Monday and sends the file to the Department of Revenue the following
Tuesday morning. (Back to Top)
How do I know my file was received and processed by the Clearinghouse? You will receive an email message from the
Clearinghouse with the Subject: "The NC Local Government Debt Setoff
Clearinghouse has successfully imported your data file". The
email will list the results of your import and show: Debtors Added Debtors Updated Debts Added Debts Updated Debtors Rejected Debts Rejected Debts with a valid Compliance Date (dates have lapsed - today
or prior) Debts with an invalid Compliance Date (dates have not lapsed
- today or into the future) Amount of Debt Loaded Amount of Debt Rejected Debts Increased Debts Decreased New Debt Amount
How do I know if I had any setoffs at the Department of Revenue? You will receive an email message from the
Clearinghouse with the Subject: "The NC Local Government Debt Setoff
Clearinghouse has processed a match file from the Dept of Revenue". You can click the link in the email message,
sign-on to your secure folder, download your file of setoffs and update your
data at your location. (Back to Top)
How often do we receive setoff files from the Department of Revenue? The Clearinghouse receives two setoff files per month
beginning in February and ending in December. To see the schedule click
here. (Back to Top)
Do we use a particular naming convention when we send files via the Secure Web Browser? Yes, there is a special naming convention: Entity Code + trans.txt. The Entity Code is also your assigned Username.
1) Counties: "C" + "County Number (001-100)
2) Municipalities: "M" + Municipality Number (001-499)
3) Others: "C" + Assigned Number (900-999)
County 078 file name: C078trans.txt
Do we need Social Security Numbers to submit debtors to the Clearinghouse? Yes, Social Security Numbers (SSNs) are required. A debt setoff cannot occur at the Department of Revenue without an SSN to match against tax refunds. (Back to Top)
Can we submit debts for business owners? Yes, but in order to submit debts to the Clearinghouse you must provide the Social Security Number, Last Name
and at least the first letter of the First Name for the business owner. A
Federal Tax ID number will not suffice, an actual Social Security number is
required. (Back to Top)
When debtors pay us directly do we send the amount paid or the new balance? You always send the NEW BALANCE to the Clearinghouse. We do not do any calculations, we simply replace the debt amount we have with the debt amount you
send to the Clearinghouse. This is especially important if the debtor pays in full, the Clearinghouse needs the $0.00 balance so we can forward this to the Department of Revenue. (Back to Top)
How are debtors notified that their tax refund has been setoff? The debtor receives an official letter from the North Carolina Department of Revenue with the heading "NOTICE OF INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX ADJUSTMENT"
including the following information:
How do debtors find out which local governments submitted claims against their tax refund? Debtors call the Clearinghouse toll-free number (877) 843-0330 listed on the letter from the North Carolina Department of Revenue
and are processed by an Interactive Voice Response Unit (IVR). The IVR prompts them for their Social Security Number and then announces the following information for all local governments who submitted claims
against the debtor's tax refund: 1) Local Government name; 2)Telephone Number; 3) Contact Name; 4) Amount of Debt. (Back to Top)
If the debtor paid a debt but was still setoff at the Department of Revenue, they are due a refund of the amount they paid. However, we discourage
refunding the $15 Clearinghouse processing fee nor the $5 Department of Revenue processing fee. The debtor was notified that they had 30 days in order to
pay the debt in full to keep from being submitted to the Department of Revenue. (Back to Top)
How do we handle multiple departments, such as Taxes, Water, Health, etc.? As a single participating local government entity you must
submit ALL of your debts together. Whether you have any combination of taxes,
water, electric, parking tickets, health department, etc. they must all be in
the same database at your entity. Even if you are in separate buildings you must
still compile al of your data together and Send to the Clearinghouse from one
computer. The Clearinghouse technical support can assist your Information
Technology staff with methods to share your database among multiple departments. (Back to Top)
Is there any way to identify different types of debts? We recommend that you use the Account Number to identify the
type of debt and use the same formatting. For example, the following types of
debts: PT-2002-1044590 (Property Tax debt) WT-2001-11311212124 (Water bill debt) HD-JXP109-XC-110987 (Health Department debt) In the above examples the first two positions identify the
type of debt. In the most recent version of our Client software, 2006.01
(available beginning January 2006) you can define the starting and ending
positions to identify the different types of debts. In this example it
would be Starting position: 1 and Ending positions: 2. You
can also print your setoff report to print all of the similar debts on the same
page and then break when a new type of debt begins. You can then provide
the page(s) of Property Tax debts that were setoff and give to the appropriate
person in that department. The other debt types will also be on separate
pages so those reports can be provided to the appropriate personnel in that
respective department. And the last page will be a summary of all
different types of debts and the amount setoff and deposited into your account
with Capital Management Trust of the Carolinas.
How often can we send files to the Clearinghouse? Files can be sent once per week. However, if you send more than one file in a week it will overwrite the previous file.
So be sure that any subsequent files have the data sent in the previous file. (Back to Top)
Do we send the entire file each time or can we just send additions, updates and deletions? You can do any of these options. But remember, if you send multiple files in one week the Clearinghouse only applies the last one, so be sure that file includes the
additions, updates and deletions as the previous ones. (Back to Top)
Can we send a file before we send the notification letters? Yes, you can send a file before your notification letters but you need to have the Compliance Date set to a date in the future when the letters have been sent and the time frame for their response
is considered. The safest process is to send the notification letters and then immediately send your file with a Compliance Date of at least 30 days beyond, just to be safe. (Back to Top)
Can a third-party administrator send the notification letters on our behalf? Yes, a third-party company can send letters on your behalf. Just have them keep a record of to whom they sent the letters in the event of an appeal
and the letter states that they were not notified. (Back to Top)
One department is already participating and sending data, how do other departments send data also? Each local government entity can only have central point for sending data files and receiving the setoff files. You need to work with each other to consolidate your debts. The best method is to have your Information Technology staff
provide network access to our Client software. If you don't use our Client Sot use our Client software but use the Web Browser transfer method instead, you can send different files from the different departments and in either ASCII or EXCEL formats.
We will take these data files and add any new debtors to our databases and update debtors that already exist. However, when we send your setoff file it can only be received at one computer (if using our Client software). (Back to Top)
This can still be a workable solution and many local governments are currently doing this. We can assist with this, just contact us. (Back to Top)
Do we have to have high speed Internet, like DSL or Road Runner or will dial-up suffice? High speed Internet is not required, you can send and receive files normally with no problem. However, downloading our Client software and upgrades may take too long. In that case, we may decide to create a CD-ROM and mail
to you. (Back to Top)
Can we send files other than 8:00 a.m - 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday? Yes, you can send files 24 hours, 7 days per week. Unless we send a notification of systems maintenance you are free to send data files. (Back to Top)
Will the Clearinghouse contact our Information Technology staff to work out the operational issues? Yes, we will be happy to provide assistance. Just contact us and provide the contact for your I. T. staff. (Back to Top)
Will the Clearinghouse contact our third-party billing company to work out the operational issues? Yes, we will be happy to provide assistance. Just contact us and provide the contact for your third-party company. (Back to Top)
How is priority established when multiple local governments submit debts for the same person? Priority is established on a first come, first served basis. When a local government submits debts, if a particular Social Security Number is already in the system the new local government
can only receive funds after the entire debt amounts have been collected for all local governments submitting debts for this Social Security Number. The amount of the debt is not relevant, meaning that the largest debt amount does
not have any priority over lesser debt amounts submitted. Our procedures are to operate from a time and date stamp of the file when submitted. (Back to Top)
How old must debts be before they are considered delinquent? Debts must be at least 60 days beyond their due date before a notification letter should be sent to the debtor. They will then have 30 days in which to pay
the debt before it can be submitted to the Clearinghouse for setoff. (Back to Top)
Is there a minimum debt amount that may be submitted to the Clearinghouse? Can debts be combined to reach the minimum amount? Debts of similar types may be combined to meet the $50 minimum debt requirement.
Are there any statutes of limitations on debts? The Clearinghouse does not provide any advise on how far back a debt may be submitted. We suggest you consult your attorney. However, it may incumbent upon the debtor to bring to your attention that the debt is beyond the statute of limitations. If so, then the amount setoff plus the Clearinghouse fee along with fees from the Department of Revenue or Education Lottery must be returned to the debtor. (Back to Top) |
Sample Letter from Dept of Revenue (to debtor after setoff) Debt Setoff Legislation(consolidated version)
Debt Setoff Legislated Collection Fees $ 5.00 Dept of Revenue- per tax return $15.00 Education Lottery - per winning over $600 $15.00 Clearinghouse- (per debt per calendar year)
Data Transfer News
Notification Letter Generation Support
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N. C. Local Government Debt Setoff Clearinghouse © 2008 | All Rights Reserved |
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