TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Topics | Sections |
|---|---|
| OVERVIEW | 1.1 What is the purpose of this chapter? 1.2 What is the scope of this chapter? 1.3 What are the authorities for this chapter? 1.4 What is the overall Service policy on debt management and debt collection? 1.5 What terms do you need to know to understand this chapter? |
| RESPONSIBILITIES | 1.6 What are the responsibilities for debt management and debt collection? |
| BILLS FOR COLLECTION | 1.7 How does the Service issue an initial demand for payment? 1.8 What information must be included on billing documents? 1.9 How does a debtor dispute a debt? |
| ACQUISITION AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE DEBTS | 1.10 How does the Service determine debt amounts for acquisition and financial assistance documents? 1.11 How does the Service collect debts from awardees? |
| DELINQUENT DEBTS | 1.12 How does the Service process delinquent debts? 1.13 How does the Service assess interest and penalties? |
| EMPLOYEE DEBTS | 1.14 How does the Service process employee debts? |
| REPAYMENT AGREEMENTS | 1.15 When may the Service accept a repayment agreement? 1.16 How does the Service process installment payments under repayment agreements? |
| ADDITIONAL INFORMATION | 1.17 Where can employees go for additional information or if they have questions about debt recovery? |
OVERVIEW
1.1 What is the purpose of this chapter? This chapter establishes policy and procedures for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) employees who oversee debt management and process debt collection on behalf of the Service.
1.2 What is the scope of this chapter?
A. This chapter applies to all Service employees who:
(1) Manage debt on behalf of the Service with:
(a) Debtors in the non-Federal sector,
(b) Employees of the Federal Government, and
(c) Other Government agencies; and
(2) Process debt collection on behalf of the Service.
B. This chapter does not cover debts where there is:
(1) Indication of fraud;
(2) Presentation of false debt;
(3) Misrepresentation on the part of the debtor or any other party having an interest in the debt; or
(4) Conduct that violates antitrust laws, unless we referred the debt to the U.S. Department of Justice (Justice), and Justice returns it to the Department of the Interior (Department) and the Service for further handling.
1.3 What are the authorities for this chapter?
A. Claims of the United States Government (31 U.S.C. 3701-3719).
B. Collection by Offset from Indebted Government Employees (5 CFR 550, Subpart K).
C. Debt Collection Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-365).
D. Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, Chapter 10 (Public Law 104-134).
E. Department’s Office of Financial Management, Cash Management Handbook.
F. Department’s Office of Financial Management, Credit and Debt Management Handbook.
G. Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-508).
H. Federal Claims Collections Standards (31 CFR Chapter IX, Parts 900-904).
I. Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-647).
J. Installment Deduction for Indebtedness to the United States (5 U.S.C. 5514).
K. Interest, penalties, and administrative costs (31 CFR 901.9(g)).
M. Policy and Procedures Manual for Guidance of Federal Agencies: Title 7 - Fiscal Guidance; Chapter 3, Obligations; U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
N. Procedures to Collect Treasury Debts, How Will Treasury Entities Offset a Federal Employee’s Salary to Collect a Treasury Debt? (31 CFR 5.12).
O. Time for Commencing Actions Brought by the United States (28 U.S.C. 2415).
P. Treasury Financial Manual, Chapter 8000, Recovering Unclaimed Federal Financial Assets, U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), Bureau of the Fiscal Service.
Q. 344 Departmental Manual (DM) 9, Waiver of Claims for Erroneous Payments.
1.4 What is the overall Service policy on debt management and debt collection? When debts are owed to the Service, the Service must:
A. Issue a notice of indebtedness and demand for payment in a timely and assertive manner.
B. Record receivables accurately and promptly to collect amounts owed as soon as we can after we establish that the debt exists, and maintain accounting records for receivables so that we are including all transactions affecting the receivables for each reporting period.
C. Implement controls that allow us to separate duties and functions between authorization, performance, recordkeeping, custody of resources, and review. We must segregate duties relating to debtor billing and receipt and deposit of collections to minimize the potential for unauthorized or improper acts.
D. Monitor the effectiveness of controls related to the segregation of duties by periodically examining how they are working. We should not rely on a low loss ratio.
E. Determine if uncollectible receivables are compromised, suspended, or terminated in compliance with statutory, GAO, and Departmental requirements.
1.5 What terms do you need to know to understand this chapter?
A. Administrative offset is when Treasury withholds money that is payable to a person or is held on behalf of a person to satisfy a debt owed by that person. This does not apply when the debtor is a Federal, State, or local government agency.
B. Allowances are payments for quarters, uniforms, and overseas cost of living expenses, but exclude travel, transportation, and relocation expenses.
C. Bill for collections is the initial demand for payment we issue on a Bill for Collection form (DI-1040), which the Financial and Business Management System (FBMS) generates.
D. Collection Officers are the only individuals the Service authorizes to receive, handle, or deposit funds on its behalf (see 261 FW 1).
E. Debts are an amount of money or property that any person, organization, or entity, except another Federal agency, owes to the United States. Debts include, but are not limited to:
(1) Amounts owed on loans that the United States has made, and guaranteed loans on which the debtor has defaulted and for which the United States has honored the guarantee; and
(2) All amounts due the United States from audit disallowances, fees, duties, leases, rents, royalties, services, sales of real or personal property, overpayments, fines, penalties, damages, taxes, interest, forfeitures, and other sources.
F. Delinquent debts are accounts that are past due. These are loan repayments or other debts when they have not been paid either by the date specified in the applicable agreement or by the date specified on the initial written notification of the debt.
G. Disposable pay means the part of an employee's current basic, special, incentive, retirement, and retainer pay, or other authorized pay, remaining after the paying agency deducts amounts that must be withheld (e.g., Federal tax, Social Security withholding).
(1) To calculate disposable pay, legally required deductions that must be applied first include: tax levies under the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C.); properly withheld taxes; Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) amounts; Medicare; health, dental, vision, and life insurance premiums; and Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) and retirement contributions.
(2) Amounts deducted under garnishment orders, including child support garnishment orders, are not legally permissible deductions when calculating disposable pay (see 5 CFR 550.1103).
H. Negotiated debt determination occurs where two parties agree on the amount of debt due the Service (e.g., result of a contract price adjustment, overpayments due to disallowed costs, or some other overpayment condition).
I. Pay means salary, wages, compensation, emoluments, and remuneration for services. It includes, but is not limited to, overtime pay; night, Sunday standby, irregular, and hazardous duty differential; pay for Sunday and holiday work; payments for accumulated and accrued leave; and severance pay. It does not include travel and transportation expenses and allowances and relocation allowances.
J. Promissory notes are written promises to pay a specified sum of money at a fixed time or on demand.
K. Reimbursable agreements are contractual relationships where the Service provides a product or service to a non-Service entity and is paid by the recipient for the product or service.
L. Salary offset is the process of collecting debts by deducting, in one or more pay periods, all or part of a debt from the Federal pay of a current employee who is indebted to the Service or all or part of the debt from the Federal pay of a current employee who is indebted to another Federal agency.
M. Suspension of collection action means to temporarily stop collecting a debt. For example, the Service may determine that it is appropriate to pause collection if we have reason to believe that the debtor will be able to repay the debt in the future, but actively attempting to collect the debt at the present time would not be productive (see 263 FW 2).
N. Termination of collection action means to stop collecting a debt. When the debt is removed from accounting records it is “written off.” A decision to terminate collection action precedes or occurs concurrently with the write-off of the account (see 263 FW 2).
O. Waivers grant relief from all or part of a debt under statutory authority (see 263 FW 2).
RESPONSIBILITIES
1.6 What are the responsibilities for debt management and debt collection? See Table 1-1.
Table 1-1: Responsibilities for Debt Management and Debt Collection
| These employees… | Are responsible for… |
|---|---|
| A. The Director | (1) Ensuring effective management of the Service’s debt collection program, and (2) Approving or declining to approve Servicewide policy. |
| B. Directorate members (i.e., Regional Directors; Assistant Directors; Director, National Conservation Training Center (NCTC); Chief, National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS)) | Ensuring their Regions/programs comply with this chapter. |
| C. Assistant Director – Management and Administration (i.e., AD-MA or Associate Chief Financial Officer) | (1) Overseeing the Servicewide debt management program and ensuring staff make changes to the program as necessary, and (2) Approving or declining to approve requests for administrative waivers. |
| D. Joint Administrative Operations (JAO), Administrative Operations Center (AOC), Financial Operations Division Chief | (1) Managing the daily operation of the Service’s debt collection program; (2) Ensuring that their staff performs the Service's debt collection in accordance with Departmental and Treasury mandates; (3) Serving as the Service’s Debt Management Officer; (4) Serving as the Service’s Debt Collection Coordinator in matters relating to the Department’s debt collection contract, including: (a) Receipt and control of uncollectible accounts submitted to the contractor, (b) Receipt and dissemination of collection data from the contractor, and (c) Computation and approval of commission payments to the contractor; (5) Serving as the point of contact for agency referrals to consumer reporting agencies, the Department’s Office of the Solicitor (SOL), GAO, and Justice; (6) Coordinating the preparation and submission of Servicewide reports related to debt management and collection when the data required is not available from a single Service source; and (7) Taking referral action on uncollectible debts for compromise, suspension, or termination of collection, as appropriate. |
| E. JAO, AOC, Acquisition and Property Operations, Warranted Contracting Officers (CO) | (1) Determining debts owed to the Service under acquisition instruments (i.e., negotiated settlement, unilateral debt determination), (2) Sending confirmations of negotiated settlements or unilateral debt determinations and written demands for payment to the Payments and Collections team for input into FBMS as accounts receivable, and (3) Determining if collection action should be suspended until resolved when a contractor challenges the CO’s determination on a claim through a formal dispute process or court action. Suspension of a collection action during a formal dispute process or court action does not stop interest accrual. |
| F. Programmatic Project Officer (PO) | (1) Determining debts owed to the Service under financial assistance instruments (i.e., negotiated settlement, unilateral debt determination), (2) Sending confirmations of negotiated settlements or unilateral debt determinations and written demands for payment to the Payments and Collections team for input into FBMS as accounts receivable, and (3) Determining if collection action should be suspended until resolved when a financial assistance recipient challenges the PO’s determination on a claim through a formal dispute process or court action (interest continues to accrue). |
| G. JAO, AOC, Financial Operations Staff (i.e., Payment and Collections and Reimbursable and Federal Agreements teams) | (1) Serving as the final collection point for all Service debt collection; (2) Ensuring billings are entered into FBMS as accounts receivable; (3) Following up on uncollected billings; (4) Determining and executing alternatives necessary to collect delinquent debts; (5) Issuing bills for collection and delinquency notices for amounts due the Service from State and local governments, travel advances for separated employees, duplicate or otherwise erroneous payments to vendors and employees, non-entitlement payments made on behalf of employees during their relocation, and all employee or miscellaneous indebtedness arising at the Headquarters (HQ) level; (6) Issuing all non-reimbursable billings to other Federal agencies regardless of the origin and nature of indebtedness; (7) Sending uncollectible account reports and supporting information to the Service’s Debt Collection Coordinator (i.e., Financial Operations Division Chief) to forward to the Department’s debt collection contractor; (8) Referring case reports on uncollectible debts for write-off authority or Claims Collection Litigation Reports to the Financial Operations Division Chief for referral action on compromise, suspension, or termination of collection, as appropriate; (9) Coordinating with the CO or PO about collection actions related to acquisition or financial assistance documents; and (10) Notifying the CO or PO when any contract or financial assistance debt is collected, compromised, suspended, or terminated. |
| H. Regional Business Advisors (RBA) or HQ Liaisons | (1) Requesting bills for collection for contractor defaults, employee indebtedness, and other miscellaneous indebtedness arising at the Regional office or program level; (2) Submitting bills for collection through mySupport to the Payments and Collections team to record in FBMS; and (3) Serving as the Regional/program point of contact for debt collection issues. |
| I. Field/program offices | (1) Requesting bills for collection for special use permits, cooperative farming agreements, quarters rental not collected through payroll deductions, and other indebtedness arising at the field/program office level (except employee indebtedness); and (2) Submitting bills for collection through mySupport to the Payments and Collections team to record in FBMS. |
| J. Collection Officers | Collecting debts to the Service at their field, Regional, or HQ level. |
BILLS FOR COLLECTION
1.7 How does the Service issue an initial demand for payment?
A. Federal customers. We issue bills to Federal customers in FBMS and collect the debt using Treasury’s Inter-agency Payment and Collection (IPAC) system.
B. Non-Federal customers.
(1) Non-reimbursable customers. The field/program office prepares initial bill requests through mySupport and sends them to the Payments and Collections team to record in FBMS. The Payments and Collections team issues the Bill for Collection form (DI-1040), which informs the debtor of the basis for and amount of the indebtedness (see the Payments and Collections team’s Creating Bills SharePoint site).
(2) Reimbursable customers. The Payments and Collections team prepares initial bill requests through FBMS and sends them to the debtor. The Reimbursable and Federal Agreements team issues the Bill for Collection form (DI-1040), which informs the debtor of the basis for and amount of the indebtedness.
1.8 What information must be included on billing documents? Bills must include:
A. Amount of debt;
B. Basis of the indebtedness (such as overpayment, etc.) and rights, if any, the debtor may have to seek review by the Service;
C. Requirement to assess interest, penalties, and administrative charges on late payments;
D. Payment due date (in most cases, not more than 30 days after the date of the bill) to avoid late charges and enforced collection;
E. If not already available in FBMS, a request that the debtor provides their Tax Identification Number (TIN) by completing Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form W-9, “Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification,” as required by the Debt Collection Improvement Act;
F. Name, phone number, and address of an individual within the Service the debtor may contact;
G. Instructions for electronic payment methods;
H. Information related to our willingness to discuss alternative methods of payment (i.e., payment plan);
I. Remedies to enforce payment of debt (including assessment of interest, administrative costs and penalties, administrative wage garnishment, the use of collection agencies, Federal salary offset, tax refund offset, administrative offset, and litigation);
J. Referral of debt to Treasury;
K. Debtor’s entitlement to consideration of a waiver depending on the statutory authority; and
L. Requirement to report discharged debt to the IRS as potential taxable income.
1.9 How does a debtor dispute a debt? Debtors who dispute a debt must submit requests for review and comment within 30 days from the date of the initial billing or demand for payment. We must respond promptly to communications from the debtor, within 30 days whenever feasible, and should advise a debtor who disputes a debt to furnish any relevant evidence to support their argument.
ACQUISITION AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE DEBTS
1.10 How does the Service determine debt amounts for acquisition and financial assistance documents? The CO or PO determines the amount of debt owed to the Service under acquisition or financial assistance instruments. The debt determination may be in the form of a:
A. Negotiated settlement. The CO or PO must issue a confirmation of the negotiated settlement to the debtor, or
B. Unilateral debt determination. When mutual agreement cannot be reached, the CO or PO must issue a unilateral debt determination (i.e., a final decision rendered as described in the award’s disputes articles).
1.11 How does the Service collect debts from awardees? The nature of the debit determines the appropriate method of collection. We use three methods:
A. Direct payment. We should require direct payments when there is a price adjustment and funding change or if recoupment is not possible within a reasonable time period.
B. Recoupment. We should take recoupment actions from amounts due or that will become due to the awardee under the same award if it can be done within a reasonable timeframe and there is not a price adjustment and funding change.
C. Administrative offset. If we do not receive payment by the due date, we may administratively offset the amount due (including late payment charges) from payments we owe the awardee on other awards (see 263 FW 2).
DELINQUENT DEBTS
1.12 How does the Service process delinquent debts? We must make prompt, appropriate written demands upon a debtor to inform them of the consequences of their failure to cooperate. The specific content, timing, and number of demand letters depends on the type and amount of debt, the length of time the debt has been delinquent, and the debtor’s response, if any, to our communications (e.g., letters, emails, telephone calls, etc.).
A. Less than 120 days. As soon as the debt becomes delinquent, Financial Operations staff should send at least one written demand for payment letter/notice of intent (see Exhibit 1).
(1) If we receive a response to the initial or subsequent demands that indicates that further demands would be futile and a rebuttal to the response is not required, we can stop sending additional bills.
(2) Subsequent demands must be timely to ensure we can send any referrals to Justice or GAO for litigation at least 1 year before the applicable statute of limitations expires as determined by SOL (see Exhibit 1).
(3) We may waive subsequent demands to protect the Service’s interest (i.e., to prevent the applicable statute of limitations from expiring) and move forward with other appropriate actions under this chapter.
B. 120 days and more. We refer non-tax debts or claims owed to the United States that are 120 days or more delinquent to Treasury for appropriate action to collect or recommend termination on the debt or claim. Once the debt has been referred to Treasury, all questions and payments should be sent to Treasury. The Service is not allowed to collect for debts that have been referred to Treasury.
1.13 How does the Service assess interest and penalties? We may assess interest, penalties, and administrative charges at a rate that the Secretary of the Treasury establishes, except when prohibited or expressly provided by law.
EMPLOYEE DEBTS
1.14 How does the Service process employee debts?
A. Salary offset. We use salary offset to collect erroneous payments to employees and other debts employees owe (see 260 FW 3 and 5 U.S.C. 5514).
(1) We take salary offsets if a current employee has a delinquent debt owed to the Service.
(2) The offset cannot exceed 15% of disposable pay.
(3) The RBA (or the HQ Liaison in HQ) coordinates salary offsets.
B. Travel advance repayment. Employees must repay travel advances in a lump sum. If an employee fails to repay a travel advance, we may recover the debt through salary offset or adjustment of the amount of retirement credit or other amount due the employee. When recovering travel advance repayments, the recovery is not subject to the 15% salary offset limitation (see 260 FW 3).
C. Employee training expenses. If an employee signs a training agreement to remain in Federal service for a period of time equal to time spent training at a non-Federal facility, and they leave Federal service before they meet their obligation, they must repay the expenses the Service has incurred. If an employee fails to repay these expenses, the Service may recover the full debt by salary offset or adjustment of the amount of retirement credit or other amount due the employee. When recovering these types of training expenses, the recovery is not subject to the 15% salary offset limitation (see 260 FW 3).
REPAYMENT AGREEMENTS
1.15 When may the Service accept a repayment agreement? We should collect debts, including interest, penalties, and administrative costs, in one lump sum whenever possible. The following subsections describe what situations qualify for a repayment agreement and what situations do not.
A. Qualifies for repayment agreement. When a debtor is financially unable to pay in one lump sum, and their financial situation keeps them from obtaining a loan to pay it off, we may accept payment in regular preauthorized debit installments not to exceed 3 years.
B. Does not qualify for repayment agreement.
(1) We cannot accept repayment agreements when a debt must be paid in full, such as debts for travel advances and employee training expenses.
(2) Such an agreement would place the Government at a greater risk than the debtor.
1.16 How does the Service process installment payments under repayment agreements? We apply installment payments in the following order: (1) outstanding penalties, (2) administrative charges, (3) accrued interest, and (4) outstanding principal.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
1.17 Where can employees go for additional information or if they have questions about debt recovery? For additional information, please follow the steps below:
A. Payments and Collections team. For non-reimbursable repayments:
(1) Refer to the Payments and Collections SharePoint site, and
(2) Submit a consultation request to the Payments and Collections team in mySupport or contact the Payments and Collections team for additional guidance.
B. Reimbursable and Federal Agreements team. For reimbursable agreement repayments:
(1) Refer to the Reimbursable and Federal Agreements SharePoint site, and
(2) Submit a consultation request to the Reimbursable and Federal Agreements team in mySupport or contact the Reimbursable and Federal Agreements team for additional guidance.