A.
Determining Income
1. Income eligibility shall
be determined prospectively based on the eligibility technician's anticipation
of income at the time of application and when changes are made known to the
local office.
2. When determining
if a household is eligible under gross and/or net income limits, households
shall have income converted to a monthly amount by using a conversion as
specified below. When a full month's income is anticipated any cents in the
gross weekly or biweekly earnings shall be used in converting income to a
monthly amount.
Monthly income amounts shall be rounded to the nearest dollar
amounts. Each monthly income figure that ends in 1 through 49 cents is rounded
down, and each monthly income figure that ends in 50 through 99 cents is
rounded to the next dollar.
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Pay Frequency
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Conversion
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Weekly
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Multiply Weekly Average by 4.3.
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Bi-Weekly (Every Two Weeks)
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Multiply Bi-Weekly Average by 2.15.
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Semi-Monthly (Twice a Month)
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Multiply Semi-Monthly Average by 2.
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Every Other Month
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Multiply Average by 0.5.
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Quarterly
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Multiply Average by 0.333333.
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Twice a Year
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Multiply Average by 0.166666.
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Annual
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Multiply Average by .083.
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3.
Household income shall mean all earned and unearned income received or
anticipated to be received by household members from whatever source, unless
specifically exempted for Food Assistance eligibility and budgeting purposes,
per Section 4.405 . Income of household members, including the amount of the
disqualified person's income attributed to the household, shall be counted as
income in the month received or the month it becomes available, unless the
income is averaged over the certification period.
B. Variations in Date of Pay
1. Regular ongoing earned income that is
received early or late by a household due to a holiday, a weekend, or pay dates
being changed will have income counted based on the regular pay schedule
instead of the actual date of pay.
2. Households receiving monthly benefits such
as public assistance or social security payments shall not have their monthly
income varied merely because mailing cycles resulted in two (2) payments in one
month and none in the next month.
3. Households containing a member of the
Armed Services of the United States shall not have their monthly income varied
merely because the first day of the month falls on a holiday or weekend which
resulted in two (2) payments in the month and none in the subsequent
month.
C. Wage Data
1. With respect to income or resource
information originating with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and provided
through the income and eligibility verification system (IEVS), as well as wage
data obtained through the DOLE or IEVS, the local office must verify such
information from another source and must verify applicant/participant access to
that income/resource. The local office may not take adverse action on such
information until independent verification is obtained, or until the applicant
has been found to have failed to cooperate in providing the required
verification. The information must also be verified prior to establishing a
claim for an over-issuance of benefits.
4.402.1
Prospective Budgeting
A. Prospective budgeting is the process of
computing a household's allotment based on anticipated income and circumstances
during the issuance month. All SNAP households and all situations require
prospective budgeting determinations, including Public Assistance (PA)
households under the TANF /Colorado Works Program.
B. If the date of receipt or the amount of
any anticipated income is uncertain, such as a new job or a PA application,
that portion of income shall not be considered. Only the portion of income
which can be anticipated with reasonable certainty concerning the amount and
month in which monies will be received shall be counted as income.
C. Income received within the past thirty
(30) days may be used as an indication of the income that will be received in
the issuance month unless changes in income have occurred or can be anticipated
which require proper adjustment. Income used to determine prospective
eligibility shall be representative of the household's current circumstances.
If the verified income does not provide an accurate
indication of anticipated income, a longer period of past time may be used if
it will provide a more accurate indication of anticipated income. If a
household's income fluctuates seasonally, it may be appropriate to use the last
season rather than the last thirty (30) days, although precaution must be taken
to account for possible fluctuations or new circumstances. Except for eligible
strikers, no household shall have the amount of any past income automatically
attributed to it.
4.402.2
Averaging Income
To obtain a household's average monthly income, income
intended to cover a specific period of time is divided by the number of months
the income is intended to cover.
A.
Income shall be averaged for:
1. Households
who derive their annual income from self-employment. These households shall
have their income annualized over a twelve (12) month period even if the income
is received within a shorter period of time.
2. Households who derive their annual income
from contract income shall have that income averaged over a twelve (12) month
period. (This requirement is not applied to income from a contract received on
an hourly or piecework basis.)
3.
Households receiving educational income as defined in Section 4.404, D. The
income is prorated over the period of time it was intended to cover.
4. Other households not previously mentioned,
such as migrant or seasonal workers, may elect to have their fluctuating income
averaged over the period of time the income is intended to cover.
Self-employment income, contract income, and fluctuating
income intended to cover a specific period of time shall not be averaged or
annualized for migrant households that are destitute of income as defined in
Section 4.406.
B. The types of households listed above shall
have their self-employment income, contract income, or educational monies
annualized or prorated, and added to other household income to determine
monthly income for SNAP.
C. To
average income prospectively, the eligibility technician shall use the
household's anticipation of income, considering fluctuations, to obtain a
monthly average amount for the period of certification. The number of months
used to arrive at the average income need not be the same as the number of
months in the certification period, such as the known income from two (2)
previous months may be averaged and projected for each month of a certification
period that is longer than two (2) months. Refer to Section 4.403.11 for more
information on computing self-employment income.
Fluctuating income that has been averaged may be adjusted if
verification of a change in circumstances is received.
Notes
10 CCR 2506-1-4.402
37
CR 15, August 10, 2014, effective 9/1/2014
37
CR 21, November 10,2014, effective 12/1/2014
38
CR 23, December 10, 2015, effective 1/1/2016
39
CR 01, January 10, 2016, effective
2/1/2016
39
CR 05, March 10, 2016, effective
4/1/2016
39
CR 07, April 10, 2016, effective
5/1/2016
39
CR 15, August 10, 2016, effective
9/1/2016
39
CR 17, September 10, 2016, effective
10/1/2016
39
CR 19, October 10, 2016, effective
11/1/2016
39
CR 23, December 10, 2016, effective
1/1/2017
40
CR 11, June 10, 2017, effective
7/1/2017
40
CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective
10/1/2017
41
CR 15, August 10, 2018, effective
9/1/2018
40
CR 23, December 10, 2017, effective
12/30/2018
42
CR 01, January 10, 2019, effective
2/1/2019
42
CR 03, February 10, 2019, effective
3/15/2019
42
CR 17, September 10, 2019, effective
10/1/2019
42
CR 18, October 10, 2019, effective
10/1/2019
42
CR 23, December 10, 2019, effective
12/30/2019
43
CR 01, January 10, 2020, effective
1/30/2020
43
CR 05, March 10, 2020, effective
2/7/2020
43
CR 07, April 10, 2020, effective
4/30/2020
43
CR 21, November 10, 2020, effective
11/30/2020
44
CR 21, November 10, 2021, effective
11/30/2021
45
CR 05, March 10, 2022, effective
3/30/2022
45
CR 19, October 10, 2022, effective
10/1/2022
45
CR 19, October 10, 2022, effective
11/1/2022
45
CR 21, November 10, 2022, effective
11/30/2022
