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MS 5670
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Volume 2 - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) MS 5670 - R. 2/1/13 – OMTL – 435 Budgeting Deductions
A. Household expenses are calculated based on the expenses the household expects to be billed during the certification period. Anticipation of the expense is based on the most recent month's bills unless the household is reasonably certain a change will occur. If a household receives a bill in one month and the due date on the bill is the following month, consider the expense for the month the bill is received rather than the month payment is due.
Households may elect to have fluctuating expenses averaged. Households may also choose to have expenses which are billed less often than monthly:
1. Prorated forward over the period between scheduled billings; 2. Prorated forward over the period the expense is intended to cover if there is no scheduled billing period; or 3. Deducted in the month billed or otherwise comes due.
Document the method of deduction chosen by the household.
If an expense is prorated over the period between scheduled billings or prorated over the period it is intended to cover, the expense does not have to be billed during the certification period to be deductible.
Convert all expenses billed weekly or bi-weekly using 4 1/3 or 2 1/6, as appropriate.
Example: Dependent Care Expense
09/07/25 $50
10/05/25 $50
09/14/25 $70
10/12/25 $60
09/21/25 $50
10/19/25 $50
09/28/25 $60
10/26/25 $70
$50 + $70 + $50 + $60 + $50 + $60 + $50 + $70 = $460 ÷ 8 = $57.50 $58 * 13 ÷ 3 = $251.33 per month
B. Households reporting one-time only shelter expenses may elect to have a one- time only deduction or to have the expense averaged over the entire certification period in which the expense is billed.
Households reporting one-time only medical expenses during their certification period may elect a one-time only deduction or have the expense prorated over the remaining months of the certification period beginning the month the change becomes effective.
Households which report a one-time only medical expense during the last month of the certification period may have the expense deducted in the last month of the certification period, deducted in the first month of the new certification period, or deducted over the new certification period.