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North Carolina Association of County Commissioners North Carolina League of Municipalities From: Date: Subject: Participants in the NC Local Government Debt Setoff Clearinghouse Program C. Ronald Aycock, NCACC Executive Director S. Ellis Hankins, NCLM Executive Director November 22, 2002 Important Changes to the NC Local Government Debt Setoff Clearinghouse Program Please execute the enclosed Local Collection Assistance Fee Rider, which amends the original NC Local Government Debt Setoff Clearinghouse Program Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement, to accommodate the following: · Recent legislation permits charging debtor a ~15 collection assistance fee, beginning January l, 2003. · All debtors, including those whose debts have already been submittedforprocessing, must be notified of collection assistance fee, and notification cannot occur before January 1, 2003. · The clearinghouse will add the $15 to the debt amounts submitted by participating local governments. · Department of Revenue now allows a county or city to combine debts to meet $50 minimum. Please note that 2 clearinghouse awareness and training sessions will be held as follow: · Monday, Dec. 9, 2002, from 1:30 to 3:30, at the Wake County Commons Building, Carya Dr., Wake County Office Complex, Raleigh, NC · Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2002, from 1:30 to 3:30, at the City of Hickory Council Chambers, Hickory Town Hall, 76 N Center Street, Hickory, NC The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners and the North Carolina League of Municipalities are pleased to report some exciting new changes in our joint NC Local Government Debt Setoff Clearinghouse Program. As you know, this program permits counties and cities to submit any outstanding delinquent debt (totaling $50 or more) through a local government clearinghouse to the NC Department of Revenue, to attempt to match these debts against individual income tax refunds. N.C.G.S. Chapter 105A authorizes county and city participation in the debt setoff program through the clearinghouse function, and limits clearinghouse participation to only counties and cities. Thus far, 47 counties and 77 cities have joined the clearinghouse. NCACC and NCLM were successful in having enacted this year legislation to charge the debtor for the $15 collection assistance fee, beginning January 1, 2003. The notification and appeals process as set forth in N.C.G.S. Chapter 10SA requires debtors to be notified Of the $15' collection assistance fee, including those debts already submitted for processing to the clearinghouse. The notification cannot occur prior to January 1, 2003 (the effective date of the $15 charge to the debtor), and it reopens the appeals process for those debts previously submitted. The clearinghouse will be responsible for adding the $15 to the amount of delinquent debt submitted by participating local governments. Another important change in the clearinghouse program now allows an individual county or city to combine debts under a single debtor's social security number to meet the $50 minimum. For your