Senate Bill No. 504

(By Senators Edgell, Barnes, Facemire and Yost)

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[Introduced February 6, 2014; referred to the Committee on Government Organization; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §14-1A-1, §14-1A-2, §14-1A-3, §14-1A-4 and §14-1A-5, all relating to the creation of the Debt Resolution Services Division within the Auditor’s Office; authorizing transaction fees; and creating the Debt Resolution Services Fund.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia;

    That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §14-1A-1, §14-1A-2, §14-1A-3, §14-1A-4 and §14-1A-5, all to read as follows:

ARTICLE 1A. DEBT RESOLUTION SERVICE.

§14-1A-1. Purpose.

    The purpose of this article is to provide for a timely and efficient mechanism for the collection of delinquent debt due the state from vendors.

§14-1A-2. Definitions.

    For the purpose of this article the following words have the meanings indicated:

    (1) “Offset” means the capture and diversion of a payment due a vendor from the state to satisfy an outstanding obligation owed by the vendor to the state.

    (2) “Debt” means obligations owed the state which a spending unit has not been able to collect within one hundred and eighty days of the date on which the obligation was created.

    (3) “United States Treasury Offset Program” means the reciprocal debt collection offset program between the federal government and the State of West Virginia authorized by section thirty-seven, article one, chapter fourteen of this code.

§14-1A-3. Division Created.

    The Auditor is hereby authorized to establish a “Debt Resolution Services Division” which is authorized to identify and offset state payments due to vendors that owe delinquent debts to the state.

    The Debt Resolution Services Division is also authorized to administer the United States Treasury Offset Program established pursuant to section thirty-seven, article one, chapter fourteen of this code.

    The Debt Resolution Services Division shall adopt such procedures, forms and agreements as the Auditor deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of this article. All spending units of the state, with the exception of the State Tax Commissioner and any other division otherwise exempted by law, is required to refer delinquent debt to the Debt Resolution Services Division for consideration for offset. The State Auditor is not required to accept the transfer of any debt from any spending unit which he or she finds is not qualified for offset.

§14-1A-4. Transaction fees.

    In order to effectuate the purposes of this article, the Auditor may assess an administrative fee for collecting debts through offset which fee shall be added to the outstanding debt and collected in the same manner as the debt. The administrative fee may not exceed twenty-five percent of the outstanding delinquent debt collected on behalf of the spending unit. Notwithstanding any other code provision to the contrary, the Auditor may also assess an administrative fee for collections performed pursuant to participation in the United States Treasury Offset Program in an amount equal to the fee assessed by the United States Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service for collections performed by them pursuant to that program. All fees authorized by this section will be in addition to and added to the debt submitted to or received from the Auditor by the United States Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service.

§14-1A-5. Debt Resolution Services Fund created.

    There is hereby created a Debt Resolution Services Fund. All money received by the Auditor for services rendered pursuant to this article and any interest or other return earned on the money, shall be deposited in a Special Revenue Revolving Fund designated the Debt Resolution Services Fund, in the State Treasury to be administered by the Auditor. The fund shall be used to pay all expenses related to the operation of the Debt Resolution Services Division and may be used to pay expenses related to the general operation of the Auditor’s Office. Expenditures from the fund shall be made in accordance with appropriations by the Legislature pursuant to the provisions of article three, chapter twelve of this code and upon fulfillment of the provisions set forth in article two, chapter five-a of this code.

    NOTE: The purpose of this bill is related to the creation of Debt Resolution Services Division within the auditor’s office.

    This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.