(1) The State Disbursement Unit is hereby created and shall be operated by the Department of Revenue or by a contractor responsible directly to the department. The State Disbursement Unit shall be responsible for the collection and disbursement of payments for:(a) All support cases enforced by the department pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act; and
(b) All child support cases not being enforced by the department pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act in which the initial support order was issued in this state on or after January 1, 1994, and in which the obligor’s child support obligation is being paid through income deduction.
(3) The State Disbursement Unit shall perform the following functions:(a) Disburse all receipts from intercepts, including, but not limited to, United States Internal Revenue Service, reemployment assistance or unemployment compensation, lottery, and administrative offset intercepts.
(b) Provide employers and payors with one address to which all income deduction collections are sent.
(c) When there is more than one income deduction order being enforced against the same obligor by the payor, allocate the amounts available for income deduction in the manner set forth in s. 61.1301. (d) To the extent feasible, use automated procedures for the collection and disbursement of support payments, including, but not limited to, having procedures for:1. Receipt of payments from obligors, employers, other states and jurisdictions, and other entities.
2. Timely disbursement of payments to obligees, the department, and other state Title IV-D agencies.
3. Accurate identification of payment source and amount.
4. Furnishing any parent, upon request, timely information on the current status of support payments under an order requiring payments to be made by or to the parent, except that in cases described in paragraph (1)(b), prior to the date the State Disbursement Unit becomes fully operational, the State Disbursement Unit shall not be required to convert and maintain in automated form records of payments kept pursuant to s. 61.181. 5. Electronic disbursement of support payments to obligees. The State Disbursement Unit shall notify obligees of electronic disbursement options. Any payments made to the State Disbursement Unit that are owed to the obligee shall be disbursed electronically. The obligee may designate a personal account for deposit of payments. If the obligee does not designate a personal account, the State Disbursement Unit shall deposit any payments into a stored value account that can be accessed by the obligee.
(e) Information regarding disbursement must be transmitted in the following manner:1. In Title IV-D cases, the State Disbursement Unit shall transmit, in an electronic format as prescribed by the department, all required information to the department on the same business day the information is received from the employer or other source of periodic income, if sufficient information identifying the payee is provided. The department shall determine distribution allocation of a collection and shall electronically transmit that information to the State Disbursement Unit, whereupon the State Disbursement Unit shall disburse the collection. The State Disbursement Unit may delay the disbursement of payments toward arrearages until the resolution of any timely appeal with respect to such arrearages. The State Disbursement Unit may delay the disbursement of Title IV-D collections until authorization by the Title IV-D agency has been received.
2. In non-Title IV-D cases, payment information is not transmitted to the department. The State Disbursement Unit may delay the disbursement of payments toward arrearages until the resolution of any timely appeal with respect to such arrearages.
(f) Reconcile all cash receipts and all disbursements daily and provide the department with a daily reconciliation report in a format as prescribed by the department.
(g) Disburse support payments to foreign countries as may be required.
(h) Receive and convert support payments made in foreign currency.
(i) Remit to the department payments for costs due the department.
(j) Handle insufficient funds payments, claims of lost or stolen checks, and stop payment orders.
(k) Issue billing notices and statements of account, in accordance with federal requirements, in a format and frequency prescribed by the department to persons who pay and receive child support in Title IV-D cases.
(l) Provide the department with a weekly report that summarizes and totals all financial transaction activity.
(m) Provide toll-free access to customer assistance representatives and an automated voice response system that will enable the parties to a support case to obtain payment information.