TITLE
8 SOCIAL SERVICES
CHAPTER
106 STATE FUNDED ASSISTANCE
PROGRAMS
PART
520 ELIGIBILITY POLICY - INCOME
8.106.520.1 ISSUING AGENCY: New Mexico Human Services Department.
[8.106.520.1
NMAC - Rp, 8.106.520.1 NMAC 11/01/2023]
8.106.520.2 SCOPE: The rule applies to the general
public.
[8.106.520.2
NMAC - Rp, 8.106.520.2 NMAC 11/01/2023]
8.106.520.3 STATUTORY AUTHORITY: New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 (Chapter
27, Articles 1 and 2) authorize the state to administer the aid to families
with dependent children (AFDC), general assistance (GA), shelter care
supplement, the burial assistance programs and such other public welfare
functions as may be assumed by the state.
[8.106.520.3
NMAC - Rp, 8.106.520.3 NMAC 11/01/2023]
8.106.520.4 DURATION: Permanent.
[8.106.520.4
NMAC - 8.106.520.4 NMAC 11/01/2023]
8.106.520.5 EFFECTIVE DATE: November 1, 2023, unless a later date is cited at
the end of a section.
[8.106.520.5
NMAC - Rp, 8.106.520.5 NMAC 11/01/2023]
8.106.520.6 OBJECTIVE:
A. The objective of general assistance is to provide financial
assistance to dependent needy children and disabled adults who are not eligible
for assistance under a federally matched financial assistance program such as
New Mexico works (NMW) or the federal program of supplemental security income
(SSI).
B. The objective of the supplement for residential care program
is to provide a cash assistance supplement to SSI recipients who reside in
licensed adult residential care homes.
C. The objective of the burial assistance program is to assist
in payment of burial expenses for an individual who was a low-income individual
at the time of death.
[8.106.520.6
NMAC - Rp, 8.106.520.6 NMAC 11/01/2023]
8.106.520.7 DEFINITIONS: [RESERVED]
[8.106.520.7
NMAC - Rp, 8.106.520.7 NMAC 11/01/2023]
8.106.520.8 GENERAL:
A. Income eligibility:
To be eligible for GA cash assistance based on income the countable
gross earned and unearned income available to the benefit group is considered
to determine the income eligibility of the benefit group.
B. Gross income test:
For the benefit group to be income eligible, the countable gross earned
and unearned income considered available to the benefit group cannot exceed
eighty-five percent of the federal poverty guidelines for the size of the
benefit group.
C. Net income test: For the benefit group to be income
eligible, the countable net income after all allowable deductions must be less
than the standard of need for the size of the benefit group.
[8.106.520.8
NMAC - Rp, 8.106.520.8 NMAC 11/01/2023]
8.106.520.9 EXEMPT INCOME: The following income sources or assistance types are
not considered available for the gross income test, the net income test and the cash payment calculation:
A. medicaid;
B. food stamp benefits;
C. government-subsidized
foster care, if the child for whom the payment is received is not included in
the benefit group;
D. SSI;
E. government-subsidized
housing or housing payment; government
includes any federal, state, local or tribal government, or a private
non-profit or for-profit entity operating housing programs or using government
funds to provide subsidized housing or to make housing payments.
F. income excluded by federal law (described in 8.139.527
NMAC);
G. educational payments made directly to an educational
institution;
H. government-subsidized child care;
I. earned income that belongs to a child 17 years of age or
younger who is not the head of household; only earned income paid directly to
the child is considered as belonging to the child;
J. up to $50.00 child support disregard and up to $100.00 for
one child and $200 for two or more children per month, child support
pass-through distributed to the benefit group by the CSED;
K. an emergency one-time only payment made by other agencies or
programs;
L. reimbursements for past or future identified expenses, to
the extent they do not exceed actual expenses and do not represent a gain or
benefit to the benefit group, such as expenses for job or job training-related
activities, travel, per diem, uniforms, transportation costs to and from the
job or training site, medical or dependent care reimbursements and any
reimbursement for expenses incurred while participating in NMW work program
activities; reimbursements for normal living expenses, such as rent, mortgage,
clothing or food eaten at home are not excluded;
M. utility assistance payments, such as from LIHEAP, LITAP or
similar assistance programs.
N. subsidized private sector
employment: as outlined at Subsection B
of 8.102.461.12 NMAC.
O. guaranteed basic income:
any payments that is funded solely with private
funds or mixture of private and public funds will be excluded income.
P. universal basic income:
any payments that is funded solely with private
funds or mixture of private and public funds will be excluded income.
[8.106.520.9
NMAC - Rp, 8.106.520.9 NMAC 11/01/2023]
8.106.520.10 EARNED INCOME DEFINITION:
A. Earned income means cash or payment in kind that is received
as wages from employment, payment in lieu of wages, earnings from
self-employment or earnings acquired from the direct provision of services,
goods or property, production of goods, management of property or supervision
of services.
B. Earnings include gross profit from self-employment, which
requires substantial effort on a continuous basis by the individual who is
receiving the income.
(1) Income
from rental property is considered earnings if the individual regularly does painting, plumbing, carpentry, maintenance, cleaning or
repair work on the property, or if substantial time is spent each month in
bookkeeping, collecting rent, or paying bills on the property.
(2) Income from livestock is considered earnings if the
individual raises livestock for the purpose of making cash sales. Net income received from the sale of
livestock shall be considered in determining the cash assistance benefit
amount.
(a) The income received from the sale of
livestock may be prorated and projected on a monthly basis
over the certification period.
(b) Domestic pets (cats, dogs, etc.) are not considered
livestock, and their value is not considered in determining income eligibility,
except when they are bred and raised for sale.
C. The use of property, such as inhabiting a home or apartment,
is considered as earnings if it is received in exchange for services provided
to the person owning or controlling the property, and the applicant or
recipient would be legally obligated to make a payment for use of the property.
[8.106.520.10
NMAC - Rp, 8.106.520.10 NMAC 11/01/2023]
8.106.520.11 DETERMINING INCOME FOR SELF-EMPLOYED INDIVIDUALS:
A. Reporting of earnings as business or self-employment income
to state or federal tax authorities is the usual indicator of business or
self-employment income. Criteria for
verification of business and self-employment income are set forth in Paragraph (2)
of Subsection B of 8.100.130.14 NMAC.
(1) Tax returns from the previous year may
be used, unless the amount of business and self-employment income reported on
tax returns is no longer a good indicator of anticipated income.
(2) If the self-employment enterprise has been in operation for
such a short time that there is insufficient information to make a reasonable
projection, the benefit group shall be required to report income at shorter
intervals until there is enough information to make a longer projection of
anticipated income.
(3) When tax forms are used to annualize and
project income, the expenses reported on the tax forms shall be used, allowing
for adjustments for those expenses or costs that are treated differently or not
allowed under cash assistance policy.
(4) Capital gains are counted in full as
income to determine self-employment income.
A capital gain is defined as proceeds from the sale of capital goods or
equipment.
B. Averaging business or self-employment income: Business
or self-employment income is averaged over the period the income is intended to
cover, even if the benefit group receives income from other sources.
(1) An individual in a benefit group, who by contract
or self-employment derives his or her annual income in a
period of time shorter than one year, must have income averaged over a
twelve-month period.
(2) If
significant changes have occurred because of a substantial increase or decrease
in business and averaged income will not
accurately reflect the self-employed individuals' income, the self-employment
income shall be calculated on the basis of
anticipated, not prior, earnings.
(3) If a self-employment enterprise has been
in existence for less than one year, the income from self-employment shall be
averaged over the period of time the business has been
in operation. The resulting monthly
amount shall be projected for the coming year.
(4) Seasonal
income: Self-employment
income that is intended to meet the benefit group's needs for only part of the
year shall be averaged over the period of time the
income is intended to cover.
C. Determining monthly business or self-employment income: For the period of time
over which self-employment income is averaged, the individual's monthly
self-employment income is determined by adding all self-employment income,
including capital gains, and excluding allowable costs of producing the
self-employment income, and dividing the resulting self-employment income by
the number of months the income is intended to cover.
[8.106.520.11
NMAC - Rp, 8.106.520.11 NMAC 11/01/2023]
8.106.520.12 EARNED INCOME DEDUCTIONS:
A. Earnings deductions: Deductions from gross
earned income shall be made in determining the net countable earned income of
benefit group members.
(1) Earned income deductions may not exceed the amount
of an individual's gross earned income.
(2) The
earned income deductions may not be used to reduce unearned income, nor may
deductions that are not used by one benefit group member be allocated against
the earnings of another benefit group member.
(3) An allowable business expense or cost of producing
self-employment income that has been used as a deduction from self-employment
income shall not also be allowed as an earned income
deduction.
B. Business expenses and self-employment costs: Business
expenses and self-employment costs shall be deducted from the gross earnings of
a self- employed benefit group member.
The income remaining after all allowable business expenses and self-employment
costs have been deducted shall be counted as the gross income of the benefit
group member. To be eligible for a
business or self-employment expense deduction, a Tax ID shall be required.
(1) Allowable expenses and costs: Allowable costs of producing self-employment income
include, but are not limited to:
(a) costs of materials and supplies;
(b) business travel, but not personal commuting expenses,
calculated at $.25 per mile, unless the self-employed individual can prove that
the actual expense is greater;
(c) business taxes, including occupational taxes, gross
receipts taxes and property taxes on a place of business other than the home,
and business licenses;
(d) rental of equipment, tools
and machinery;
(e) rent expense for the place of business, except for
the place of business when the individual operates the business out of the
individual's residence, unless the
individual can demonstrate that the expense has been allowed under federal
income tax guidelines;
(f) payments on the principal of the
purchase price of income-producing real estate and capital assets, machinery, equipment and other durable goods;
(g) interest paid to purchase
income-producing property.
(2) Expenses and costs not allowed:
(a) costs
for depreciation, personal business, entertainment expenses and personal
transportation to and from work; and
(b) expenses or costs of self-employment that are
reimbursed by other agencies cannot also be claimed as costs of
self-employment, such as, but not limited to, reimbursements made through USDA
to individuals who provide home child care.
(3) Expenses or costs that exceed self-employment income shall
not be deducted from other income.
C. Living expense deduction:
(1) Allowing
the deduction in the GA-disabled adult program: The living expense deduction is allowed with
no time limit as follows:
(a) $125 and one-half of the remainder for a
single-adult benefit group;
(b) $225 and one-half of the remainder for a benefit group
that includes two adults.
(2) Allowing the deduction in a
GA-unrelated child benefit group: The living
expense deduction shall be allowed when the caretaker of an unrelated dependent
child chooses to be included as a benefit group member. The living expense deduction is allowed with
no time limit as follows:
(a) $125 and one-half of the remainder for a
single-adult benefit group;
(b) $225 and one-half of the remainder for a benefit group that
includes the unrelated caretaker and his or her spouse.
D. Child care costs:
Out-of-pocket expenses for child care apply only to the GA-unrelated
child benefit group. Expenses paid by
the unrelated caretaker for the dependent child included in the benefit group
that are necessary due to employment of the caretaker shall be allowed.
(1) From earnings remaining after allowing the work
incentive deduction, deduct an amount not to exceed $200 per month for a child
under age two and $175 per month for a child age two
or older.
(2) If
both the caretaker and spouse of the caretaker are working, child care expenses
shall be allocated to maximize the available deduction to the benefit group.
(3) The
total amount deducted per child shall not exceed the applicable limits set
forth above.
[8.106.520.12
NMAC - Rp, 8.106.520.12 NMAC 11/01/2023]
8.106.520.13 UNEARNED INCOME:
A. Definition of unearned income: Unearned income means old age, survivors and
disability insurance payments (social security), railroad retirement benefits,
veterans administration compensation or pension payments, military retirement
and allotments, pensions, annuities and retirement benefits; lodge or fraternal
benefits, any other public or private disability or retirement benefit or
pension, shared shelter payments, individual Indian money (IIM); royalty or
lease payments for land or property owned by a benefit group member; settlement
payments resulting from insurance or litigation; worker's compensation
benefits; child support; unemployment compensation benefits; union benefits
paid in cash; gifts and contributions; and real property income.
B. Special considerations:
(1) Direct receipt of child support: Child support payments directly received by an
unrelated caretaker and retained by the caretaker are considered available to
the benefit group in their entirety, whether or not
the caretaker chooses to be included in the benefit group.
(2) Real property income: Income from real property is considered as
unearned income when an individual included in the benefit group engages in the
management of the property less than 20 hours a week. Costs associated with maintenance of the
property or the production of income for which the benefit group is responsible
are deducted from the income received for the use of the property.
(3) Alien
sponsor income: All of the
income of the alien sponsor and sponsor's spouse is counted as unearned income
to the benefit group.
[8.106.520.13
NMAC - Rp, 8.106.520.13 NMAC 11/01/2023]
8.106.520.14 NET COUNTABLE INCOME: The earned income remaining after all
allowable exemptions and deductions shall be added to the unearned income
belonging to the benefit group. The resulting amount shall be the net countable
income of benefit group members. The net
countable income shall be used to determine the cash assistance payment to the
benefit group.
[8.106.520.14
NMAC - Rp, 8.106.520.14 NMAC 11/01/2023]
History
of 8.106.520 NMAC: [RESERVED]
History of Repealed
Material:
8.106.520 NMAC, State Funded Assistance Program - Eligibility Policy
Income, filed 06/17/2004 - Repealed effective 11/01/2023.
Other: 8.106.520 NMAC, State Funded Assistance
Program - Eligibility Policy Income, filed 06/17/2004 - was Replaced by
8.106.520 NMAC, State Funded Assistance Program - Eligibility Policy Income,
effective 11/1/2023.