Accounts and Reports
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Kansas Setoff Program Notification Mailing List Subscribe to the Kansas Setoff Program email notification list provided by the Department of Administration. The email notification list notifies you when new Setoff Program information becomes available or when Setoff Procedures have been updated. After you sign up, you will receive a confirmation email for which you must respond to complete the process. If you do not receive a confirmation email, try again later and make sure you have entered your email address correctly. If you continue to have problems, contact KSSetoff@da.ks.gov. Include your name and phone number and in the subject line put “Problem with Listserv.” This will allow us to route your email to the appropriate personnel more quickly. To subscribe to the email notification list, click on Setoff Program Email Notification List .
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If you would like more information about the Accounts Receivable Setoff Program and how it can work for you, please contact:
Linda Maike (785) 296-4628
Verna Jackson (785) 296-2924
You may email us at: KSSetoff@da.ks.gov
You may also write to us at:
Division of Accounts and Reports
Accounts Receivable Setoff Team
Room 351S, LSOB;
900 SW Jackson
Topeka, Kansas 66612-1248
Debtors with questions regarding the setoff process may call our Customer Call Center at (785) 296-4628 between the hours of 9:00 to 3:00.
Our office hours are 8:00 to 4:00 Monday through Friday.
The Setoff Program began in early 1981 following legislation that allowed the Director of Accounts and Reports to set off moneys the State of Kansas owes debtors against moneys owed to the State of Kansas. The program has provided a valuable benefit to state agencies by assisting them in the collection of their delinquent accounts receivables and in turn providing new revenue at a very small cost. In 1993, this benefit also became available to municipalities and in 1997 for the district courts.
Since its inception, the Setoff Program has experienced phenomenal growth. At the end of its first year of operation (FY 1982), the Setoff Program had 12,300 delinquent accounts on file and collected $196,000. Ending FY 2009, the number of accounts had increased to 424,000 and collections to $25 million. Currently, 65 state agencies, 539 municipalities, and 18 district courts are voluntarily participating in the Setoff Program.
Besides the Setoff Program, there are many procedures to use in managing accounts receivable. These include billings and statements, telephone contacts, legal staff work, collection agencies, skip tracing, and collection letters. All these procedures, to a degree, rely on persuading the debtor to pay the debt. The Setoff Program, which uses the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of computers to match payments in process with the debts owed doesn't rely on persuasion. After a match is made, the Setoff Program, in effect, says to the debtor: "You owe agency X money and unless you can prove that your debt is not valid, we will collect it by setting it off against money the State owes you."
Participation in the Setoff Program is voluntary. State agencies and district courts can immediately begin submitting debts while municipalities and municipal courts must enter into a written agreement with the Director of the Division of Accounts and Reports. Debts submitted to the Setoff Program must include debtor name, social security number or employer identification number, amount owed, and a description of the debt. The master file of delinquent accounts called the "debtor file" is then matched by computer with state payments in process and the payments are set off against the debts. The Setoff Program staff remits these collected moneys twice a month after withholding the collection assistance fees. However, for the Social and Rehabilitation Services Agency (SRS), collections for child support debts are remitted daily.
We carry two different types of accounts in our debtor file which are setoff and write-off accounts. Setoff accounts are those accounts where the state agencies, district courts, municipalities, and municipal courts request the Setoff Program to assist them on the collection of their delinquent accounts receivables and a collection fee is charged for the collection of these accounts. On the other hand, write-off accounts are those accounts that state agencies have given up on and are considered to be uncollectible. When the statutory requirements have been met to classify such uncollectible accounts as write-off accounts, they are assigned to the Division of Accounts and Reports, and all subsequent collections on them, either by the state agency or the Division, belong to the Division of Accounts and Reports.
