Page 27
23 7.5 Wood, Coal, or Kerosene Dealers LIHEAP payment for Regular Heating and Crisis Heating Assistance may be made to wood, coal, or kerosene dealers. The State Office does not require such dealers to sign the Home Energy Supplier Agreement. Contact the State Office to have a wood, coal, or kerosene vendor entered into FACSPro.
The Wood Dealer Checklist (Appendix F) is to be reviewed and given to each dealer who indicates an interest in delivering wood for the local agency under the LIHEAP. It is not required that the Wood Dealer Checklist be signed by the dealer. Failure of the dealer to comply with the terms of the Checklist can result in the disallowance of his participation.
It is permissible for the local agency to develop and use their own version of a written agreement with wood dealers; however, it must conform to the policies and procedures in this Policy Manual, including the checklist and LIHEAP-117 Form, Invoice (Wood/Coal/Kerosene), method of payment (Appendix G).
LIHEAP payments for eligible households with wood, coal, or kerosene as their primary heat source will be handled under the procedures as follows:
1. Process the application, determine eligibility, and complete the award in accordance with the amount the household is entitled to receive from the Payment Assistance Chart.
2. Contact the dealer and provide him with the name, address, and phone number of the client. General directions to the home must also be provided upon request. The dealer will then be responsible to contact the client and set up a delivery date within the seven-day period. Require the dealer to furnish a signed Invoice (Wood/Coal/Kerosene) on each delivery for which he expects to be paid by the agency.
3. Once the Invoice (Wood/Coal/Kerosene) is submitted by the dealer for payment, compare the signatures on the application and the Invoice. If they appear to be the same, the local agency can issue a check to the dealer.
Households are not to be delivered less wood/coal/kerosene than they are eligible to receive according to the Payment Assistance Chart. There may be instances when more than one trip is required to deliver all the wood. In these cases, require the dealer to deliver all the wood before he is paid by the agency.
Vendor checks may not be routed through, hand-carried by, or otherwise delivered to a dealer by an agency employee unless authorized by the executive director on a case-by-case basis. In cases where the executive director authorizes the hand delivery of a check to a dealer by an agency employee, that employee must first obtain a signed release from the executive director.