State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Vermont > Title-33 > Chapter-26 > 2604
§ 2604. Eligible beneficiaries; requirements
(a) Household income eligibility requirements. The secretary, by rule, shall establish household income and asset eligibility requirements of beneficiaries in the seasonal fuel assistance program including the income and assets of all residents of the household.
(1) The income eligibility requirements shall require that households have a net household income no greater than 125 percent of the federal poverty level in order to be potentially eligible for benefits. Net income shall be derived by making the following deductions from gross income: 20 percent of household members' gross earned income; 100 percent of federal or state earned income credits received by household members; dependent care expenses that are within an allowable maximum, paid by a household member, and necessary to support a household member's employment or training for employment, according to criteria established by the secretary by rule; child support or alimony payments made by a household member on behalf of a nonhousehold member that meet criteria established by the secretary by rule; $250.00 for each household member who is 60 years of age or older or disabled according to criteria established by the secretary by rule; any deductions or exclusions required by federal law or regulations; and any other deduction or exclusion established by the secretary by rule.
(2) In order to be eligible, a household shall have net household assets no greater than $5,000.00, or $10,000.00 if one member of the household is 60 years of age or older. The secretary shall establish exclusions from the asset limit by rule.
(b) Fuel cost requirements. The secretary shall adopt rules that specify the responsibility of the applicant households and their certified fuel supplier in providing the office of home heating fuel assistance with information that the office will use to establish an applicant household's heating fuel consumption for the previous year. The secretary shall by rule establish a table that contains amounts that will function as a proxy for applicant households' annual heating fuel cost for the previous year. The seasonal fuel expenditure estimates contained within such table shall closely approximate the actual home heating costs experienced by participants in the home heating fuel assistance program. Such table shall be revised no less frequently than every three years based on data supplied by certified fuel suppliers to the office of home heating fuel assistance, as required by rule. The secretary shall also establish by rule minimum amounts of annual home heating fuel costs that vary based on the household's size and annual income.
(c) In determining heating fuel costs of households:
(1)(A) Households that make undesignated payments for energy for home heat in the form of rent and are not participating in a public, subsidized or Section 8 housing program shall be eligible for an annual home heating fuel assistance benefit in an amount equal to 30 percent of the benefit the household would have received if the household were purchasing energy for home heating fuel directly, or in the amount of $50.00, whichever amount is greater.
(B) Households that make undesignated payments for energy for home heat in the form of rent and are participating in a public, subsidized or Section 8 housing program shall be eligible for a nominal annual home heating fuel assistance benefit of $5.00. This benefit amount is effective beginning with the 1999-2000 program year.
(C) Residents of the dwelling unit who make reasonable compensation in the form of room rent and who are not members of the same household shall be eligible for an annual home heating fuel assistance benefit in the amount of $50.00.
(2) Residents of housing units subsidized by the federal, state, or local government shall be deemed to have incurred no annual home heating fuel costs, except to the extent required by any federal law or regulation if federal funds are utilized for the home heating fuel assistance program, and with the following additional exception. Housing unit residents who participate in Reach Up under chapter 11 of this title, or who receive Supplemental Security Income/Aid to the Aged, Blind, or Disabled (SSI/AABD), emergency assistance, or general assistance benefits that are used in whole or in part to pay for their housing or utility costs and do not receive other federal, state, or local government assistance targeted specifically to their housing or utility needs shall, with the exception of households for which the cost of heat is supplied by the landlord, be assumed to incur annual home heating fuel costs and their eligibility for annual heating fuel assistance shall not be limited by this subsection.
(3) The annual heating fuel cost for a household unit shall be only for the cost of the primary heating fuel source of the unit, which may be for wood, electricity, or any other fuel source, but annual heating fuel costs shall be only for the cost of heat and not include the cost of the fuel for any other uses of the household. (Added 1995, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 10, 1996; amended 1997, No. 2, § 68, eff. Feb. 12, 1997; 1997, No. 61, § 130a; 1999, No. 59, §§ 2, 3, eff. June 1, 1999; 1999, No. 66 (Adj. Sess.), § 56, eff. Feb. 8, 2000; 2007, No. 65, § 143; 2007, No. 172 (Adj. Sess.), § 14; 2009, No. 4, § 108, eff. April 29, 2009; No. 1 (Sp. Sess.), § E.324.3.)
