N.J. Admin. Code § 10:90-14.3

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 21, November 4, 2024

Section 10:90-14.3 - Public Assistance Trust Fund Accounts

(a) The law provides that every payment made to a county/ municipality as State aid for WFNJ/GA, including all moneys received as a refund or in restitution of any year's assistance expenditures, shall be made payable to the chief financial officer (CFO) of the county agency or the treasurer (but not by name) of the municipality and deposited by him or her in the Public Assistance Trust Fund (PATF) Account. Municipalities that administer the WFNJ/GA program shall be required to maintain both a PATF I and a PATF II Account. Counties which administer the WFNJ/GA program will be required to maintain one PATF.

1. A municipality which has received State aid shall not close out its PATF Accounts at the end of that fiscal year. Municipalities shall maintain PATF accounts in order to qualify for State aid.

2. Procedures in non-transferability of funds are the following:

i. Under no circumstances shall payments made to a municipality as State aid for WFNJ/GA in the current or prior years be deposited or transferred to the municipal current account or used for any purpose other than public assistance grants exclusive of administrative costs. Transfers from PATF I to PATF II are not barred by this subsection. Transfer of surpluses arising from municipal appropriations in prior years is not barred by this paragraph.

ii. When the WFNJ/GA program has been transferred to the county, the PATF I balance, with the approval of DFD, may be transferred to the municipal current fund and the account closed, as long as the municipality does not owe any portion of the PATF I balance to the State.

3. State aid advances shall be deposited in the PATF II Account.

4. All payments received by a county/municipality or any other agency from or on behalf of current or former recipients shall be deposited in the "PATF Account," and entered on Statement of Refunds (Form WFNJ/ GA-12) and duly accounted for on a monthly basis.

i. Refunds and other receipts shall be separated and deposited as follow:

(1) Deposits to the PATF I Account shall include any municipal appropriation for non-WFNJ/GA eligible assistance, certain miscellaneous donations, and refunds of non-WFNJ/GA assistance.

(2) Deposits to the PATF II Account shall include State aid advances for expenditures eligible for 100 percent State aid, refunds of all 100 percent reimbursed assistance (to include fraud recoveries, insurance recoveries, vendor repayments, and so forth) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Interim Assistance checks.

ii. Each county/municipal agency is required to prepare Form WFNJ/ GA-12. Refunds are separated according to items eligible and ineligible for State participation and completed in accordance with instructions provided on the reverse side of Form WFNJ/GA-12. SSI retroactive grant awards received from SSA and reported on Form WFNJ/GA-31 and State Aid payments do not get reported on Form WFNJ/GA-12. Form WFNJ/ GA-12 shall be distributed as follows:

(1) The originals are to be submitted to the agency's auditor at the time of annual audit.

(2) A copy is to be forwarded to DFD each quarter (even if there are no refunds) by the end of the following month.

(3) A copy is to be retained by the county/municipal agency.

(4) A copy is to be provided to the chief financial officer and/or treasurer of the county/municipality.

iii. State aid shall be adjusted for refunds of assistance eligible for State participation.

(b) Disbursement may be made from the PATF Accounts only for payment of public assistance costs, exclusive of administrative costs. Disbursements will be made on the authority of the county/municipal treasurer or other authorized official.

1. Types of disbursements authorized from PATF I Account are limited to:

i. Payment to indigent clients or to vendors providing authorized services to indigent clients who do not meet the eligibility criteria for WFNJ/GA and for public assistance costs of WFNJ/GA clients not eligible for State aid;

ii. Payments to non-WFNJ/GA needy individuals as designated by the municipality, LAB and/or Director within constraints established by the municipal council and or donor(s) of contributed funds;

iii. Payments for non-WFNJ/GA eligible indigent burials;

iv. Replacement checks; and

v. Payment to replenish the PATF I petty cash account.

2. Disbursements from the PATF II Account are limited to:

i. Payment to WFNJ/GA clients or to vendors providing authorized services to WFNJ/GA clients of public assistance costs eligible for 100 percent State aid; and

ii. Payment of SSI proceeds to SSI recipients, the Social Security Administration, or other county/municipal agencies from which the SSI recipient received Interim Assistance and completed a Form WFNJ/GA-30.

3. Those counties/municipalities which issue checks in direct payment of assistance to eligible persons shall arrange their fiscal procedures so as to result in the delivery of all initial and regular checks on the first day of each period of eligibility and the delivery of replacement checks which are issued within five working days of receipt of notification from the client that the assistance check has been lost or stolen, unless extraordinary circumstances, such as, but not limited to, a history of lost/stolen checks, are present, and a longer period of time is approved by DFD.

N.J. Admin. Code § 10:90-14.3

Amended by R.1998 d.42, effective 1/20/1998.
See: 29 New Jersey Register 3971(b), 30 New Jersey Register 389(a).
In (a)2ii, added an exception at the end.
Amended by R.1999 d.182, effective 6/7/1999.
See: 31 New Jersey Register 20(a), 31 New Jersey Register 1508(a).
In (b), deleted "only" following "Accounts" in the introductory paragraph, inserted new ii and iii, and recodified former ii and iii as iv and v in 1.
Amended by R.2003 d.226, effective 6/16/2003.
See: 34 New Jersey Register 2713(a), 35 New Jersey Register 2670(a).
In (a), deleted "/Bureau of Business Services (BBS)" in 2ii and deleted "/BBS" in 4ii(2); in (b), rewrote 1i, deleted former 2ii and recodified former 2iii as 2ii.