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FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICES CERTIFICATION INCOME AND RESOURCES FNS 315 SPECIAL BUDGETING

13 Section 315 Change #01-2022 January 11, 2022 B. Count the income for the month it is intended to cover if payment is made monthly. C. Convert income to a monthly amount if income is received more frequently than monthly. NOTE: Prorate the contract income over the period it is intended to cover if received less than annually but not in monthly installments or converted to a monthly amount. For example, if the contract specifies quarterly payments, average the payment over a three-month period to determine the monthly amount to budget. 315.22 INSURANCE SETTLEMENTS Crop insurance settlements and insurance settlements on stock-in-trade held for resale (but not settlements on property, such as buildings, vehicles, etc.) are earned income subject to the cost of doing business. The settlements shall be considered as if they were the actual earned income from the self-employment enterprise and shall have the costs incurred in the attempted production of income deducted. EXAMPLE: A farmer may lose a cotton crop due to a hailstorm and, subsequently, receive a $1000 crop insurance settlement. In attempting to produce this crop, the farmer had spent $300 for seed, fertilizer, etc. The $300 would be deducted from the $1000 as identifiable costs of doing business, thus leaving $700 of the insurance settlement to be treated as actual self- employment income for food stamp purposes. 315.23 LEGALLY OBLIGATED MONEY A. Money that is otherwise payable to a member of the FNS unit, but is diverted by the provider of the payment to a third party for a household expense, shall be counted as income and not excluded. Example: The court orders child support payable to the client, but the absent parent chooses to pay the mortgage directly instead of paying the FNS unit. Count the payment as income and allow the mortgage payment as a shelter deduction. B. Payments specified by a court order or other legally binding agreement to go directly to a third party rather than the FNS unit are excluded as income because the payment is not otherwise payable to the FNS unit. Example: A divorce decree orders an individual to pay the monthly mortgage payment directly to the mortgage company and not to the FNS unit. Do not count the payment as income to the FNS unit and do not allow the mortgage payment as a shelter deduction.