TO:	Commissioners, TA Directors, Resource and Recovery Directors, Records Retention Staff

FROM:	Patricia A. Stevens, Deputy Commissioner
	Division of Temporary Assistance

SUBJECT:	Record Retention –  Debts Certified to the  State Tax Refund Offset Program in 1995, 1996 and 1997

EFFECTIVE DATE:	Immediately

CONTACT PERSON:	Central Regional Team at 1-800-343-8859, ext.4-9344
	
This is to advise districts to maintain the overpayment information that supported the district’s certification of overpayments to the State Tax Refund Offset Program (STROP).

There are two cases currently pending which challenge the validity of the STROP.  The cases are, in Federal court, Danzler v. Wing and Roth and in State court, Watts v. Wing. The STROP program was suspended effective May 20, 1998 due to a court injunction filed in Butler v. Wing (now Watts).  Local district STROP contacts were notified of the suspension on June 9, 1998.   

Debts certified to STROP in tax years 1995, 1996, or 1997 were collected from refunds in 1996, 1997, or 1998 for those debtors entitled to a refund.  If the debt was satisfied in full by the STROP collection, the record of the debt owed by the former recipient may have reached the time limit required for the retention of the record.  

Districts must continue to retain any existing records of debts certified to STROP until further notice.

If the record of a former recipient’s debt certified to STROP does not include all supporting information about the debt, but such documents exist in other agency paper, imaged and/or automated files, those documents should be located and retained in the former recipient’s single STROP record if at all possible.  Examples of such documents include the initial notice of overpayment, and records of other payments that reduced the original amount prior to the certification to STROP.