DSS FISCAL MANUAL SECTION VI - PAYMENT PROCESS

Section VI-B Interim Payment

General

County program administration costs are reported to the Division for reimbursement at the end of the month following the month in which obligations were incurred and the payment process initiated. During the period of delay between payment and reimbursement from the state, counties may experience difficulties with cash availability. Therefore, to assist counties with their cash flow, a method called the interim payment process has been designed that will allow them to receive a reimbursement prior to the filing of the reimbursement report (DSS-l57l).

The Interim Payment Process works as follows:

Beginning with the August 2000 reimbursement, any county that wishes an interim payment must provide the Department with a completed copy of the Preliminary County DSS Administrative Reimbursement Report, (Figure VI-B), by the seventh work day of the month following the end of the service month. It must be completed and attested to base on the records of the county. The signed form may be faxed, or an original copy may be mailed.

Effective July 1, 2004 for FY 04-05, it is no longer required that the original signatures of the county director and county finance officer on the Preliminary County DSS Administrative Reimbursement form be mailed to the Controller’s Office; it may be faxed to the Controller’s Office. Electronic signatures and signature stamps are permitted. However, it is the responsibility of the county to establish procedures assuring that only authorized persons have access to facsimile signatures. Regardless of whether a copy of the document is faxed or mailed, counties are required to retain a copy of the document submitted for retention and audit purposes.

Fax to:	County Administration Accounting Unit
	(919) 715-5847
Mail Original to:	DHHS Controller Office
	ATTN: County Administration Accounting Unit
	2019 Mail Service Center
	Raleigh, NC 27699-2019

The Department will use the expenditures reported on the form and the county’s historical pattern of actual federal and state participation to compute the amount of the interim payment. This method of making interim payments will continue to be contingent upon a timely submission of the DSS-1571 in the prior month.

Figure VI-B

PENALTY FOR LATE SUBMITTAL OF THE DSS-1571

County departments of social services must submit their DSS-1571 reports in a timely basis in order to avoid being excluded from the interim payment process. If the County Administration Accounting Unit has not received the DSS-1571 (balanced and error free) by the 15th of the month, or the first workday thereafter, (following the month during which services were provided/expenditures were incurred), your county will not receive an interim payment check the next month, if requested.