Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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30 ILCS 210/10

(30 ILCS 210/10)

Sec. 10.

Department of Revenue Debt Collection Bureau to assume
collection duties.

(a) The Department of Revenue's Debt Collection Bureau shall serve as the
primary debt
collecting entity for the State and in that role shall collect debts on behalf
of agencies of the State. All debts owed the State of Illinois shall be
referred to the Bureau, subject to such limitations as the Department of
Revenue shall by rule establish. The Bureau shall utilize the Comptroller's
offset system and private collection agencies, as well as its own collections
personnel, and may use the offset system of the Department of the Treasury of the United States for the collection of State debt pursuant to Sections 10.05 and 10.05c of the State Comptroller Act and subsection (i-1) of Section 10 of the Illinois State Collection Act of 1986. The Bureau shall collect debt using all legal authority available to
the Department of Revenue to collect debt and all legal authority available to
the referring agency.

(b) The Bureau shall have the sole authority to let contracts with persons
specializing in debt collection for the collection of debt referred to and
accepted by the Bureau. Any contract with the debt
collector shall specify that the collector's fee shall be on a contingency
basis and that the debt collector shall not be entitled to collect a
contingency fee for any debt collected through the efforts of any State offset
system.

(c) The Department of Revenue shall adopt rules for the certification of
debt from referring agencies and shall adopt rules for the certification of
collection specialists to be employed by the Bureau.

(d) The Department of Revenue shall adopt rules for determining when a debt
referred by an agency shall be deemed by the Bureau to be uncollectible.

(e) Once an agency's debt is deemed by the Bureau to be uncollectible, the
Bureau shall return the debt to the referring agency which shall then write the
debt off as uncollectible in accordance with the requirements of the Uncollected State Claims Act or return the debt to the Bureau for additional
collection efforts. The Bureau shall refuse to accept debt that has been deemed
uncollectible absent factual assertions from the referring agency that due to
circumstances not known at the time the debt was deemed uncollectible that the
debt is worthy of additional collection efforts.

(f) For each debt referred, the State agency shall retain all documents and
records relating to or supporting the debt. In the event a debtor shall raise a
reasonable doubt as to the validity of the debt, the Bureau may in its
discretion refer the debt back to the referring agency for further review and
recommendation.

(g) The Department of Healthcare and Family Services shall be exempt from the requirements of
this Section
with regard to child support debts, the collection of which is governed by the
requirements of Title IV, Part D of the federal Social Security Act. The
Department of Healthcare and Family Services may refer child support debts to the Bureau, provided
that the debt satisfies the requirements for referral of delinquent debt as
established by rule by the Department of Revenue. The Bureau shall use all
legal means available to collect child support debt, including those
authorizing the Department of Revenue to collect debt and those authorizing the
Department of Healthcare and Family Services to collect debt. All such referred debt shall remain
an obligation under the Department of Healthcare and Family Services' Child Support Enforcement
Program subject to the requirements of Title IV, Part D of the federal Social
Security Act, including the continued use of federally mandated enforcement
remedies and techniques by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

(g-1) The Department of Employment Security is exempt from subsection (a)
with regard to debts to any federal account, including but not limited to the
Unemployment Trust Fund, and penalties and interest assessed under the
Unemployment Insurance Act.  The Department of Employment Security may refer
those debts to the Bureau, provided the debt satisfies the requirements for
referral of delinquent debt as established by rule by the Department of
Revenue. The Bureau shall use all legal means available to collect the debts,
including those authorizing the Department of Revenue to collect debt and those
authorizing the Department of Employment Security to collect debt. All
referred debt shall remain an obligation to the account to which it is owed.

(h) The Bureau may collect its costs of collecting debts on behalf of other State agencies from those agencies in a manner to be determined by the Director of Revenue, except that the Bureau shall not recover any such cost on any accounts referred by the General Assembly, the Supreme Court and other courts of this State, and the State executive branch constitutional officers. The provisions of this subsection do not
apply to debt that is exempt from subsection (a) pursuant to subsection (g-1)
or child support debt referred to the Bureau by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (formerly
Department of Public
Aid) pursuant to this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly. Collections
arising from referrals from
the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (formerly
Department of Public Aid) shall be deposited into such fund or funds as the
Department of Healthcare and Family Services shall direct, in accordance with the requirements of
Title IV, Part D of the federal Social Security Act, applicable provisions of
State law, and the rules of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services. Collections arising
from referrals from the Department of Employment Security shall be deposited
into the fund or funds that the Department of Employment Security shall direct,
in accordance with the requirements of Section 3304(a)(3) of the federal
Unemployment Tax Act, Section 303(a)(4) of the federal Social Security Act, and
the Unemployment Insurance Act.

(i) The Attorney General and the State Comptroller may assist in the debt
collection efforts of the Bureau, as requested by the Department of Revenue.

(i-1) The Department may enter into a reciprocal offset agreement with the Office of the State Comptroller and the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, or his or her delegate, which provides for (i) the use of the Comptroller's offset system to offset State payments to collect federal nontax debts and for the Comptroller to charge a fee up to $25 per transaction for such offsets; and (ii) offsetting federal payments, as authorized by federal law, to collect State debts, State tax, and nontax obligations, and for the Comptroller to collect the offset cost from the Department of the Treasury of the United States to cover the full cost of offsets taken, to the extent allowed by federal law, or, if not allowed by federal law, from the debtor by offset of the overpayment. The agreement shall provide that the Department of the Treasury of the United States may deduct a fee from each administrative offset and State payment offset.  Any offset fees collected by the Comptroller under this subsection for administrative offset or State payment offset shall be deposited into the Comptroller's Administrative Fund.

For purposes of this subsection, "administrative offset" is any offset of federal payments to collect State debts.

For purposes of this subsection, "State payment offset" is any offset of State payments to collect federal nontax debts.

(j) The Director of Revenue shall report annually to the General Assembly
and State Comptroller upon the debt collection efforts of the Bureau. Each
report shall include an analysis of the overdue debts owed to the State.

(k) The Department of Revenue shall adopt rules and procedures for the
administration of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly. The rules
shall be adopted under the
Department of Revenue's emergency rulemaking authority within 90 days following
the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly due to
the budget crisis threatening the public interest.

(l) The Department of Revenue's Debt Collection Bureau's obligations under
this
Section 10 shall be subject to appropriation by the General Assembly.

(Source: P.A. 96-493, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1383, eff. 1-1-11; 97-269, eff. 12-16-11 (see Section 15 of P.A. 97-632 for the effective date of changes made by P.A. 97-269).)