The Association of Arkansas Counties (AAC) has joined with the National Association of Counties Financial Services (NACo FS) to develop the Arkansas Local Government Debt Setoff (ArkTRECS) program to help counties collect certain outstanding debts in a timely, cost-effective manner.
The ArkTRECS debt setoff service allows counties to compile and submit certain outstanding debts of $20 or more for setoff against pending state individual income tax refunds. Ark. Code Ann. §16-13-709 authorizes a county quorum court to delegate collection activities to a private contractor, such as the AAC.
ArkTRECS provides and maintains the centralized automation and back office systems needed to transmit and process debts through the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA). Services include a SSN lookup and validation function, an automated voice response system for debtor queries, and a toll-free helpline for technical assistance to the counties. Counties may also opt in to take advantage of ArkTRECS’ debtor notification service. ArkTRECS will improve collection efficiencies for those counties currently using the DFA offset service and can assist those counties not using the service to maximize debt collection through setoff.
ArkTRECS charges a small fee ($25 per offset) to offer this important debt collection tool and the fee is only incurred on each successful setoff over $30 netted to the county after the statutorily-required administrative fee of 10% (for court-related debts) or 5% (for other debts) is withheld by DFA. ArkTRECS will bill each participating county monthly for each successful setoff occurring in the previous month.
Please also see below for important information about the program.
ArkTRECS Documents
