The Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) is a dividend paid to most Alaska residents each October.

Every PFD payment has a unique PFD Processing Period. The PFD, which is paid every October, has a PFD Processing Period which normally begins the following January and ends when the Seattle Regional Office sends the final bill to the State of Alaska.

The PFD Overpayment is any overpayment caused by receipt or retention of the PFD, for a period of up to four months (SI SEA00830.510G.3). The period of four months includes the month of receipt of the PFD payment. The Social Security Administration (SSA) bills the State for this amount for each individual (SI SEA00830.510D).

The PFD listing is a list of PFD recipients that DHSS identifies as also receiving SSI. DHSS sends the PFD listing to the Seattle Regional Office in the first quarter of each calendar year.

The Alaska PFD website is a web based application created by the Seattle Center for Automation. The Anchorage District and Seattle Regional office uses the web application to monitor the workload and post the PFD overpayment for each individual on the PFD listing.

Under SSA’s agreement with DHSS, an overpayment is due to receipt of the PFD payment if the overpayment causes the recipient to be ineligible for payment in the month the PFD payment is received (N01). An overpayment is also due to receipt of the PFD payment if receipt of the PFD causes changes in the Transitional Computation Cycle (TCC) solely because of the interruption of payment due to receipt of the PFD payment.

Under SSA’s agreement with DHSS overpayment is due to retention of the PFD payment if:

1. a. 

   The recipient or a member of the recipient’s household whose resources are deemed to the recipient, retains the dividend, or a portion of the dividend; and

2. b. 

   The value of the recipient’s countable resources exceeds the applicable SSI resource limit; and

3. c. 

   The value of countable resources remaining after the full amount of the dividend is subtracted is less than the applicable SSI resource limit (SI SEA00830.510G in this section).

If an SSI applicant received the PFD payment prior to the completion of their initial claim allowance and the applicant is ineligible in the month of application and/or any subsequent months due to receipt and/or retention of the PFD payment, refer the applicant to the local DHSS office to apply for general assistance for those months. If the applicant is ineligible in their protective filing month due to receipt or retention of the PFD, explain to the applicant that the applicant could choose a later filing date in order to establish SSI eligibility (see SI 00601.009).

Field Offices outside of the Anchorage District may receive allegations of PFD receipt or encounter AKPFD tickles. Regardless of your region or the time of year, contact Seattle CDPS at SEA CPS to ensure all cases are captured in the bill to State of Alaska.

If the Dividend page does not reflect receipt of the PFD, and the claimant reports receiving it, check the PFD listing. If the individual is listed, process the case following the instructions in SI SEA00830.510G in this section. If the individual is not listed, determine whether the receipt or retention of the PFD will cause an overpayment

1. a. 

   If receipt of the PFD will not cause an overpayment (for example, we have not made payment for October yet), post the PFD, even if it prevents payment for October that would have been otherwise due. Follow SI SEA00830.510D.3 in this section to refer the individual to DHSS

2. b. 

   If receipt of the PFD will cause an overpayment, do not post the PFD to the Supplemental Security Record (SSR), and document the PFD receipt on the Development Worksheet page, and Dividend page, following the instructions in SI SEA00830.510G.1 in this section.

If the Dividend page does not reflect receipt of the PFD, and the claimant reports receiving it, determine whether the receipt or retention of the PFD will cause an overpayment.

1. a. 

   If receipt of the PFD will not cause an overpayment (for example, we have not made payment for October yet), post the PFD, even if it prevents payment for October that would have been otherwise due. Follow SI SEA00830.510D.3. in this section to refer the individual to DHSS.

2. b. 

   If receipt of the PFD will cause an overpayment, do not post the PFD to the SSR, and document the PFD receipt on the Development Worksheet page, and Dividend page following the instructions in SI SEA00830.510G.1. of this section

NOTE: Always follow the rules of administrative finality found in SI 04070.000 when processing changes for past periods.

Follow the steps below for each case on the PFD Listing. When all cases are complete, pull the office’s Development Worksheet page “AKPFD” tickles, and ensure that all allegations of PFD receipt are correctly documented and pending tickles are receipted in the Development Worksheet page .

1. a. 

   Post the PFD amount to the Dividend page (and/or remove any PFD exclusions from the Dividend page and Financial Institution Account page).

2. b. 

   Use Direct SSR Update to select Notice Suppression.

3. c. 

   Review the Simulated SSR and calculate the PFD Overpayment.

4. d. 

   Review the Development Worksheet page and receipt in any AKPFD items.

If a case is on the PFD Listing, and the PFD is already posted to the SSR, determine whether the PFD caused an overpayment. If it did, we will bill the State for that full overpayment, even if we have already begun collection of that overpayment.

SSA will compute an individual’s overpayment resulting solely from the receipt or retention of the PFD payment for a period of up to four months. The four-month period includes the month of receipt of the PFD payment.

Example:James received the PFD payment in October 2017. The PFD amount for 2017 was $1,022.00. James is ineligible due to income for the month of October 2017 (PSY N01). A review of James’ bank statements shows that the PFD payment was retained in the bank account until March 2018. Because of the PFD payment, the total resources exceeded the countable resource limit for an SSI eligible individual of $2,000.00 from November 2017 through March 2017 (PSY N04). James’ SSI record will show the total overpayment amount for October 2017 through March 2018 in the OPSQ segment of the SSID.

Based on the “hold harmless” provision, the State of Alaska will repay SSA for overpayments caused solely by receipt or retention of the PFD payment for a period of up to four months. Therefore, when we send the billing to the State of Alaska, we include the amount of James’ overpayment for October 2017, the month of receipt of the PFD payment, as well as the months of November 2017, December 2017, and January 2018, for a total of four months. James is responsible for repayment of the overpayment for February and March 2018.

Due to the TCC

The “hold harmless” provision applies to overpayments caused by changes to the TCC under the following circumstances:

• •

  The individual has other income in the month of PFD receipt and/or in the month immediately following the PFD receipt; and

• •

  The income received in the month immediately following receipt of the PFD is higher than the income received in the month used as the budget month prior to the posting of the PFD payment to the record; and

• •

  The change in the budget month due to ineligibility (N01) from receipt of the PFD payment creates an overpayment; then

The overpayment for up to two months immediately following receipt of the PFD is included in the amount billed to the State under the “hold harmless” provision.

Example 1: Jones receives SSI and reports their wages to SSA every month. Jones reports receiving $600.00 in wages per month in September and October 2017. In November 2017, Jones received $800.00 in wages. Under the rules of Retrospective Monthly Accounting (RMA), using a 2 budget month, Jones receives $477.50 in SSI per month in November 2017 and December 2017 based on their wages for September and October. See the chart below:

In February 2018, SSA posts the PFD payment to October 2017, which makes Jones ineligible due to excess income (N01) for October. Receipt of the PFD causes a transitional computation cycle (TCC). Jones’ payments for November and December 2017 are recomputed using the income from November 2017. Because Jones received $800.00 in wages in November 2017, the system computes an overpayment of $100.00 per month in November 2017 and December 2017. See the chart below:

Because the overpayment is caused solely by the change in the computation cycle resulting from receipt of the PFD payment, the overpayments for November 2017 and December 2017 fall under the “hold harmless” provision and should be included in the amount billed to the State.

Example 2: O’Brien receives SSI and reports that receiving $600.00 in wages per month in September and October 2017. In November 2017, O'Brien received $400.00 in wages. Under the rules of Retrospective Monthly Accounting (RMA), we use a 2 budget month, and O’Brien receives $477.50 in SSI per month in November 2017 and December 2017 based on the wages received for September and October. See the chart below:

In February 2018, SSA posts the PFD payment to October 2017, which makes O’Brien ineligible due to excess income (N01) for October. Receipt of the PFD causes a transitional computation cycle (TCC). O’Brien’s payments for November and December 2017 are recomputed using the income from November 2017. Because O’Brien received $400.00 in wages in November 2017, the system computes an underpayment of $100.00 per month in November 2017 and December 2017. See the chart below:

Because the overpayment and underpayment are caused solely by the change in the computation cycle resulting from receipt of the PFD payment, we will net the underpayments for November and December against the overpayment for October and will bill the State $277.50.

1. a. 

   The month of PFD receipt (October) and hold harmless months may have already been computed but not paid. If the receipt of the PFD reduces a previously computed underpayment, do not bill the State for that underpayment reduction. Follow SI SEA00830.510D.3. of this section to refer the individual to DHSS.

2. b. 

   The system may perform automated netting to collect the PFD overpayment from an existing underpayment. If the existing underpayment is unrelated to the receipt of the PFD, we will bill the State for the full PFD Overpayment. See SI SEA00830.510F. in this section if the underpayment is related to the receipt of the PFD.

3. c. 

   If there is an excess overpayment decision (OPX) on the record prior to posting the PFD, we must determine whether the OPX was caused by overbilling the State in prior years. If it was clearly caused by overbilling the State, then use that OPX to correctly reduce the amount we bill the State in the current year. If the OPX is unrelated to a prior year’s PFD, or it is unclear, resolve the OPX before posting the PFD.