(30 ILCS 210/10)

Sec. 10. Department of Revenue Debt Collection Bureau to assume collection duties.

(a) The Department of Revenue's Debt Collection Bureau shall serve as the primary debt collecting entity for the State and in that role shall collect debts on behalf of agencies of the State. All debts owed the State of Illinois shall be referred to the Bureau, subject to such limitations as the Department of Revenue shall by rule establish. The Bureau shall utilize the Comptroller's offset system and private collection agencies, as well as its own collections personnel, and may use the offset system of the Department of the Treasury of the United States for the collection of State debt pursuant to Sections 10.05 and 10.05c of the State Comptroller Act and subsection (i-1) of Section 10 of the Illinois State Collection Act of 1986. The Bureau shall collect debt using all legal authority available to the Department of Revenue to collect debt and all legal authority available to the referring agency.

(b) The Bureau shall have the sole authority to let contracts with persons specializing in debt collection for the collection of debt referred to and accepted by the Bureau. Any contract with the debt collector shall specify that the collector's fee shall be on a contingency basis and that the debt collector shall not be entitled to collect a contingency fee for any debt collected through the efforts of any State offset system.

(c) The Department of Revenue shall adopt rules for the certification of debt from referring agencies and shall adopt rules for the certification of collection specialists to be employed by the Bureau.

(d) The Department of Revenue shall adopt rules for determining when a debt referred by an agency shall be deemed by the Bureau to be uncollectible.

(e) Once an agency's debt is deemed by the Bureau to be uncollectible, the Bureau shall return the debt to the referring agency which shall then write the debt off as uncollectible in accordance with the requirements of the Uncollected State Claims Act or return the debt to the Bureau for additional collection efforts. The Bureau shall refuse to accept debt that has been deemed uncollectible absent factual assertions from the referring agency that due to circumstances not known at the time the debt was deemed uncollectible that the debt is worthy of additional collection efforts.

(f) For each debt referred, the State agency shall retain all documents and records relating to or supporting the debt. In the event a debtor shall raise a reasonable doubt as to the validity of the debt, the Bureau may in its discretion refer the debt back to the referring agency for further review and recommendation.

(g) The Department of Healthcare and Family Services shall be exempt from the requirements of this Section with regard to child support debts, the collection of which is governed by the requirements of Title IV, Part D of the federal Social Security Act. The Department of Healthcare and Family Services may refer child support debts to the Bureau, provided that the debt satisfies the requirements for referral of delinquent debt as established by rule by the Department of Revenue. The Bureau shall use all legal means available to collect child support debt, including those authorizing the Department of Revenue to collect debt and those authorizing the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to collect debt. All such referred debt shall remain an obligation under the Department of Healthcare and Family Services' Child Support Enforcement Program subject to the requirements of Title IV, Part D of the federal Social Security Act, including the continued use of federally mandated enforcement remedies and techniques by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

(g-1) The Department of Employment Security is exempt from subsection (a) with regard to debts to any federal account, including but not limited to the Unemployment Trust Fund, and penalties and interest assessed under the Unemployment Insurance Act. The Department of Employment Security may refer those debts to the Bureau, provided the debt satisfies the requirements for referral of delinquent debt as established by rule by the Department of Revenue. The Bureau shall use all legal means available to collect the debts, including those authorizing the Department of Revenue to collect debt and those authorizing the Department of Employment Security to collect debt. All referred debt shall remain an obligation to the account to which it is owed.

(h) The Bureau may collect its costs of collecting debts on behalf of other State agencies from those agencies in a manner to be determined by the Director of Revenue, except that the Bureau shall not recover any such cost on any accounts referred by the General Assembly, the Supreme Court and other courts of this State, and the State executive branch constitutional officers. The provisions of this subsection do not apply to debt that is exempt from subsection (a) pursuant to subsection (g-1) or child support debt referred to the Bureau by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (formerly Department of Public Aid) pursuant to this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly. Collections arising from referrals from the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (formerly Department of Public Aid) shall be deposited into such fund or funds as the Department of Healthcare and Family Services shall direct, in accordance with the requirements of Title IV, Part D of the federal Social Security Act, applicable provisions of State law, and the rules of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services. Collections arising from referrals from the Department of Employment Security shall be deposited into the fund or funds that the Department of Employment Security shall direct, in accordance with the requirements of Section 3304(a)(3) of the federal Unemployment Tax Act, Section 303(a)(4) of the federal Social Security Act, and the Unemployment Insurance Act.

(i) The Attorney General and the State Comptroller may assist in the debt collection efforts of the Bureau, as requested by the Department of Revenue.

(i-1) The Department may enter into a reciprocal offset agreement with the Office of the State Comptroller and the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, or his or her delegate, which provides for (i) the use of the Comptroller's offset system to offset State payments to collect federal nontax debts and for the Comptroller to charge a fee up to $25 per transaction for such offsets; and (ii) offsetting federal payments, as authorized by federal law, to collect State debts, State tax, and nontax obligations, and for the Comptroller to collect the offset cost from the Department of the Treasury of the United States to cover the full cost of offsets taken, to the extent allowed by federal law, or, if not allowed by federal law, from the debtor by offset of the overpayment. The agreement shall provide that the Department of the Treasury of the United States may deduct a fee from each administrative offset and State payment offset. Any offset fees collected by the Comptroller under this subsection for administrative offset or State payment offset shall be deposited into the Comptroller's Administrative Fund.

For purposes of this subsection, "administrative offset" is any offset of federal payments to collect State debts.

For purposes of this subsection, "State payment offset" is any offset of State payments to collect federal nontax debts.

(j) The Director of Revenue shall report annually to the General Assembly and State Comptroller upon the debt collection efforts of the Bureau. Each report shall include an analysis of the overdue debts owed to the State.

(k) The Department of Revenue shall adopt rules and procedures for the administration of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly. The rules shall be adopted under the Department of Revenue's emergency rulemaking authority within 90 days following the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly due to the budget crisis threatening the public interest.

(l) The Department of Revenue's Debt Collection Bureau's obligations under this Section 10 shall be subject to appropriation by the General Assembly.

(Source: P.A. 96-493, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1383, eff. 1-1-11; 97-269, eff. 12-16-11 (see Section 15 of P.A. 97-632 for the effective date of changes made by P.A. 97-269).)