Projecting Income
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This section includes the budgeting process of using the recent income to determine the ongoing budget because little has changed.
Policy
FAA primarily predicts future income by using a participant's recently received income to determine the income reasonably certain to be received during an approval period.
NOTE When the income is received or known in a budget month(g), FAA budgets the income to determine the benefits for that month.
FAA requests, verifies, and reviews the income received in a 30-day income period with a participant, often called an income request period(g).
FAA requests more than 30 calendar days of income when the application and interview dates are in different months, including all of the following:
●For the pay dates in the application month.
●For the pay dates, which the participant already received payments during the month of the interview.
When the application and interview are in the same budget month, and a participant receives all the income for that month, the budget month is the income request period.
To project income, FAA only requests the verification of the participant's pay already received.
FAA uses one or more of the following income budgets to project the income reasonably certain to be received during an approval period:
●A budget to include a participant's income received in an income request period.
●A budget to include a participant’s income received when a participant has already received pay for each pay date in the budget month.
●A budget for ongoing months consisting of all income representing the income reasonably certain to continue.
●When a new application and interview are in different months, all of the following apply:
For the application month, a budget includes all of the income received in the application month.
FAA uses a new 30-day income period for the budget to project ongoing income for ongoing months.
NOTE When a new application and the interview are in different months, FAA requests verification of more than 30 calendar days of income.
FAA includes any high or low paychecks that were received in a month being budgeted. The high or low paychecks are then removed for ongoing months when not expected to continue.
When a high or low paycheck is a normal part of what the participant reasonably expects to continue, the high or low paycheck is included in the budget to project ongoing income.
When the high or low paycheck is not expected to continue, the high or low paycheck is not included in the budget to project ongoing income.
NOTE When paid semi-monthly, FAA does not use projecting income budgeting when one or more paycheck is high or low and not expected to continue. See Anticipating Income for budgeting future income based on verified information.
FAA includes zero pay in the budget month that the participant receives a zero-pay period.
When a zero-pay period is a normal part of what the participant reasonably expects to continue, the zero-pay period is included in the budget to project ongoing income.
When the zero pay is not expected to continue, the zero-pay period is not included in the budget to project ongoing income.
NOTE When paid semi-monthly, FAA does not use projecting income budgeting when one or more pay periods have zero pay that is not going to continue.
FAA does not project income when recently received pay is not an indicator of ongoing income. See Anticipating Income when any of the following applies:
●One or more semi-monthly checks do not represent the participant’s ongoing income.
●No recent paychecks in the 30-day income period are normal and expected to continue.
NOTE When income is received from a contract or self-employment, see Averaging Income.
FAA uses other budgeting methods for income types such as day labor, odd jobs, self-employment, and contract income. See Actual Income and Averaging Income for more information.
Verification
The participant has the primary responsibility for providing verification. (See Providing Verification for additional policy.)
For NA, all of the following income is required to be verified before eligibility is determined:
●Reported on a new application, during the interview of a new application, or changes reported before the eligibility determination of a new application.
●Changes after an eligibility determination of a new application (e.g., a renewal application, mid approval contact, etc.) and any of the following apply:
The source of the income has changed.
The income is questionable(g) or unclear(g).
The reported income amount has changed by $51 or more.
The previous verification in the case file is more than 59 calendar days old.
For CA, all income is required to be verified before determining eligibility.
See Income Types for examples of verification that can be used.
Legal Authorities
AAC R6-12-508 (A-B)(1-2)
7 U.S.C. 2014 (f)(1)(A)
last revised 05/13/2024