Accounts and Reports
Setoff Program Information Center
Using the Accounts Receivable Setoff Program to Collect Delinquent Accounts
Receivable
Contact Information
If you would like more information about the Accounts Receivable Setoff Program and
how it can work for you, please contact:
Linda Maike (785) 296-4628
Vickie Hemmen (785) 296-2924
You may email us at: KSSetoff@da.ks.gov
You may also write to us at:
Division of Accounts and Reports
Accounts Receivable Setoff Team
Room 351S, LSOB;
900 SW Jackson
Topeka, Kansas 66612-1248
Debtors with questions regarding the setoff process may call our Customer Call
Center at (785) 296-4628.
Our office hours are 8:00 to 4:00 Monday through Friday.
Background
The Setoff Program began in early 1981 following legislation
that allowed the Director of Accounts and Reports to set off moneys the State
of Kansas owes debtors against moneys owed to the State of Kansas. The program
has provided a valuable benefit to state agencies by assisting them in the collection
of their delinquent accounts receivables and in turn providing new revenue at
a very small cost. In 1993, this benefit also became available to municipalities
and in 1997 for the district courts.
Since its inception, the Setoff Program has experienced phenomenal growth. At the end of its
first year of operation (FY 1982), the Setoff Program had 12,300 delinquent accounts on file
and collected $196,000. Ending FY 2005, the number of accounts had increased to 285,000 and collections
to $15.4 million. Currently, 64 state agencies, 296 municipalities, and 17 district courts are
voluntarily participating in the Setoff Program.
Besides the Setoff Program, there are many
procedures to use in managing accounts receivable. These include billings and
statements, telephone
contacts, legal staff work, collection agencies, skip tracing, and collection
letters. All these procedures, to a degree, rely on persuading
the debtor to pay the debt. The Setoff Program, which uses the speed, accuracy,
and efficiency of computers to match payments in process with the debts owed doesn't rely on
persuasion. After a match is made, the Setoff Program, in effect, says to the
debtor: "You owe agency X money and unless you can prove that your debt
is not valid, we will collect it by setting it off against money the State owes
you."
Participation in the Setoff Program is voluntary.
State agencies and district courts can immediately begin submitting debts while
municipalities and municipal courts must enter into a written agreement with the Director of
the Division of Accounts and Reports. Debts submitted to the Setoff Program must
include debtor name, social security number or employer identification number,
amount owed, and a description of the debt. The master file of delinquent accounts
called the "debtor file" is then matched by computer with state payments
in process and the payments are set off against the debts. The Setoff Program
staff remits these collected moneys twice a month after withholding the collection
assistance fees. However, for the Social and Rehabilitation Services Agency (SRS),
collections for child support debts are remitted daily.
We carry two different types of accounts in our debtor file which
are setoff and write-off accounts. Setoff accounts are those accounts where the
state agencies, district courts, municipalities, and municipal courts request
the Setoff Program to assist them on the collection of their delinquent accounts
receivables and a collection fee is charged for the collection of these accounts.
On the other hand, write-off accounts are those accounts
that state agencies have given up on and are considered to be uncollectible.
When the statutory requirements
have been met to classify such uncollectible accounts as write-off accounts,
they are assigned to the Division of Accounts and Reports, and all subsequent
collections on them, either by the state agency or the Division, belong to the
Division of Accounts and Reports.
