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| License Reinstatement Program (LRP) |
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OAA is partnering with participating circuit courts to assist debtors in reinstating their suspended Oregon Driver's License through a payment plan. Read more about the LRP program.
If you are a circuit court and would like to participate in this program, please e-mail Cheryl Stone.
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| Refund Offset Season is Coming |
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It's about that time of year again! That's right, tax season, the busiest time of year for Revenue and also a great opportunity for your agency to use refunds toward liabilities. For your agency to fully benefit from offset season, please have your liabilities sent to Department of Revenue by January 2007. The sooner your liabilities are received, the better chance your agency has to benefit from refund offsets.
As recent media coverage has indicated, state economists are forecasting the Department of Revenue is on track to distributing a kicker refund in 2007, under Oregon's Kicker Law. If there is a state revenue surplus, any refunds authorized by law will be issued by December 1, 2007.
How will the kicker refund affect your agency's liabilities held at Department of Revenue?
The kicker can be an excellent source of Revenue for your agency. Kickers will be based on 2006 tax filings and will offset to a liability in the same way as a regular tax refund does, meaning your agency has the potential to receive two offsets next year!
As with regular tax refunds, the kicker refund will be subject to possible apportionments (apportioning is the process by which a formula is used to refund a portion or all of a state tax refund to an injured spouse).
Please visit Revenue's kicker refund page for the most current information.
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| No Rebate Projected for Program Fees |
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Thank you for your business! During the last three biennia, our total collections have continued to increase yet our collection fees have remained the same. During the 1999-2001 biennium, we collected $52 million; in 2001-03, we reached $58 million; and in 2003-05, we topped $63 million. Our goal for this biennium is to collect a total of $72 million. These collected dollars will go toward the debt we owe you, our client agencies, and help fund the services Oregonians receive.
Our projected increased collection for this biennium is a direct result of increasing our staff and improving our technology which has resulted in increased costs to run our program. Each year we review our collected fees in relation to our operating costs. We rebate any fee overage accumulated. We do not have a fee overage this year, so you will not receive a rebate.
If you have any questions, please contact Chris Gasperini, at (503) 945-8203.
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| Service Agreement Contract and Addendum |
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In July 2006, we sent you a Service Agreement for collection services. This document outlines OAA's agreement of collection services with you. If you have not already done so, please forward these documents to your agency's contract signing authority. Any existing agreement with your agency will be replaced with the new agreement. Starting this year, this agreement will remain in effect until terminated or amended. Please sign and return both copies to:
Stephanie Lehman, Contracts Administrator
Finance Section
Department of Revenue
955 Center Street NE
Salem, OR 97301-2555
Once both copies have been fully signed, we will send one to you. If you have any questions regarding this agreement, please call Stephanie Lehman at (503) 945-8575.
There is an addendum to this Service Agreement that will be sent to you starting in December. The addendum will provide OAA with specific collection actions that can be taken on the accounts assigned to us.
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| Collections from Deceased Debtors and Estates |
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OAA periodically has debtors that are deceased, yet they have assets available for collection through probate and estates. Once a month, a report arrives from the courts showing all probate and estate listings for Oregon by county. The report is reviewed by the revenue agent 2 for any debtors that may owe liabilities to Department of Revenue. We determine whether a garnishment can be issued. If an estate is available, we locate the attorney for the estate, issue a garnishment, and mail it to the attorney. The account is then monitored for payment.
If estates aren't located for a debtor, accounts will be held for offset if taxes have been filed within the last two years. If assets aren't found, the account is returned to the assigning agency labeled “Cancel liability/taxpayer deceased/no assets.” If there is question whether the taxpayer is deceased, agents are able to verify information through the Social Security Death Index.
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| Why is there a reverse payment on the monthly report? |
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If you need to know why you see a reverse payment or misapplied payment on your monthly report, or your accounts are out of balance, call OAA's account resolution team, Dorothy and Suzie. They provide detailed information on accounting issues, answer questions on DOR reports and overpayments on accounts, and provide great customer service. If you have questions or issues about your accounts, feel free to contact Dorothy or Suzie by phone or email.
- E-mail Dorothy or phone her at (503) 945-8195.
- E-mail Suzie or phone her at (503) 945-8206.
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| Chris' Corner |
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by Chris Gasperini
Here we are at the close of another successful collection year! I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you, our client agencies, for your business this past year. We continue to work on process improvements, customer service, and increased collection effectiveness. We appreciate your feedback on how we can serve you better. Our goal for this biennium is $72 million and we are on track to make that goal! We are proud of our ability to help fund the services you all provide to Oregonians with our collection efforts. Have a safe and happy holiday season.
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| Dear OAA |
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Where can I find an electronic version of the OAA Adjustment Memo?
For those of you who used our website for the OAA Adjustment Memo, you will find that it is no longer available. To request a copy of this form, please e-mail us.
What is “FTS”?
OAA now has a new monthly reporting service to offer you. “FTS” stands for “file transfer server.” This new reporting process is an automated system that will give you your monthly reports in a directory that Department of Revenue will set up for you. Also, the reports will be available to you by noon on the first working day of the month. For more information, please e-mail us.
I need immediate help. How can I reach you?
Our website has contact information.
Do you have a question that you would like to ask in the OAA Communicator? Please e-mail OAA Communicator.
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| Hey, did you know? |
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OAA has been working very hard to collect for our client agencies. We want to share the following statistics about our collection efforts since January 2006 with you:
- 80,324 incoming Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) calls in response to our collection letters or voice messages,
- 204,600 outgoing calls to debtors,
- 16,660 payment plans mailed,
- 22,474 garnishments sent, and
- 18,620 credit card payments received.
Our future issues will provide monthly comparison statistics.
Success Story:
In 1997, an account was assigned to OAA for collections. The balance owed on the account was $13,556.77. The debtor set up a payment plan of $125 a month. These payments, along with a few involuntary payments, paid this account in full nine years later on August 3, 2006. This is a great example of how our customer service and diligence paid off.
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| Revenue Agent 2 |
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Chantele is a revenue agent 2 in OAA. She assists in the more difficult accounts to collect. Chantele works with tribal nations to negotiate regular collections, she issues garnishments on estates, and works with employers regarding garnishment payments. Enforcing the law to employers increases our collections. She conducts field investigations for non-compliant employers, and locates assets. For more information on estate/probate garnishments, see the “Collections from Deceased Debtors and Estates” article in this issue.
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| OAA Communicator's New Format |
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The Other Agency Accounts (OAA) unit newsletter, the OAA Communicator, is now in an electronic newsletter format on our website. We invite you to subscribe to our newsletter.
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| Contributors to this issue |
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Contributors to Issue 1, 2006 were Darla Bell, Chantele Collier-Brumley, Stella Curry, Danette Nemeyer, Bri'Ann Leiferman, Jan Jackman, and Chris Gasperini.
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