§ 6-66. Determination of need

The period of time used to calculate need will be the next thirty-day period from the date of application (22 M.R.S.A. § 4301(7)). The administrator will calculate applicants' expenses according to the actual expense of the basic necessity or the maximum levels for the specific necessities allowed in section 6-68, whichever is less. The sum of these expenses, as calculated for a prospective thirty-day period, is the applicant's thirty-day need. Applicants will not be considered eligible if their income and other resources exceed this calculation except in an emergency (22 M.R.S.A. § 4308(2)) (see section 6-29).

Applicants will also not be considered in need of general assistance if their income, property, credit, assets or other resources available to provide basic necessities for their household are greater than the applicable overall maximum level of assistance set forth in the beginning of section 6-68 (22 M.R.S.A. §§ 4301(10), 4305(3-B)). The difference between the applicant's income and the overall maximum levels of assistance established by this chapter is the applicant's deficit.

Once an applicant's deficit has been determined, the specific maximum levels of assistance for each basic necessity (see appendixes A—H ) shall be used by the administrator to guide the distribution of assistance for which the applicant is eligible. The specific maximum levels of assistance for each basic necessity are intended to be reasonable and sufficient to help recipients maintain a standard of health and decency (22 M.R.S.A. § 4305(3-A)).

(a) Income for basic necessities. Applicants are required to use their income for basic necessities. Except for initial applicants, no applicant is eligible to receive assistance to replace income that was spent within the thirty-day period prior to an application for assistance on goods and services that are not basic necessities. All income spent on goods and services that are not basic necessities will be considered available to the applicant and combined with the applicant's prospective thirty-day income for the purposes of computing eligibility (22 M.R.S.A. § 4315-A). Applicants who have sufficient income to provide their basic necessities but who use that income to purchase goods or services which are not basic necessities will not be considered eligible for assistance. Persons who exhaust their income on basic necessities and who still need assistance with other basic necessities will be eligible, provided that their income does not exceed the overall maximum level of assistance.

(b) Use-of-income requirements. The administrator may require that anyone applying for general assistance provide documentation of his or her use of income. This documentation can take the form of cancelled checks and/or receipts which demonstrate that the applicant has exhausted all household income received over the last thirty-day period. Except as is deemed appropriate by the GA administrator for "unforeseen" repeat applicants (see section 6-23), repeat applicants may be required to verify that expenditure of income was for basic necessities. Income expended that cannot be verified will generally be considered available and in such case will be added to the thirty-day prospective income.

Allowable expenditures include reasonable shelter costs (rent/mortgage); the cost of heating fuel, electricity, and food up to the chapter maximums; telephone costs at the base rate if the household needs a telephone for medical reasons, the cost of nonelective medical services as recommended by a physician which are not otherwise covered by medical entitlement, hospital free care or insurance; the reasonable cost of essential clothing and non-prescription drugs, and the costs of any other commodity or service determined essential by the administrator.

Items not considered to be basic necessities and thus will not be allowed in the budget computation include:

•Internet services

•Cable or satellite television

•Cellular phones

•Cigarettes/alcohol

•Gifts purchased

•Pet care costs

•Costs of trips or vacations

•Paid court fines

•Repayments of unsecured loans

•Legal fees

•Late fees

•Credit card debt.

The municipality reserves the right to apply specific use-of-income requirements to any applicant, other than an initial applicant, who fails to use his or her income for basic necessities or fails to reasonably document his or her use of income (22 M.R.S.A. § 4315-A). Those additional requirements will be applied in the following manner:

(1) The administrator may require the applicant to use some or all of his or her income, at the time it becomes available, toward specific basic necessities. The administrator may prioritize such required expenditures so that most or all of the applicant's income is applied to housing (i.e., rent/mortgage), energy (i.e., heating fuel, electricity), or other specified basic necessities;

(2) The administrator will notify applicants in writing of the specific use-of-income requirements placed on them;

(3) If upon subsequent application it cannot be determined how the applicant's income was spent, or it is determined that some or all of the applicant's income was not spent as directed and was also not spent on basic necessities, the applicant will not be eligible to receive either regular or emergency general assistance to replace that income; and

(4) If the applicant does not spend his or her income as directed, but can show with verifiable documentation that all income was spent on basic necessities up to allowed amounts, the applicant will remain eligible to the extent of the applicant's eligibility and need.

(c) Calculation of income and expenses. When determining eligibility, the administrator will subtract the applicant's net income from the overall maximum level of assistance found at the beginning of section 6-68. If income is greater than the overall maximum level of assistance, the applicant will not be eligible except in an emergency (see section 6-29). If income is less than the overall maximum level of assistance, the applicant has a deficit.

The municipality will provide assistance in an amount up to the deficit to the extent the applicant also has an unmet need and is in need of basic necessities. The municipality will not grant assistance in excess of the maximum amounts allowed in section 6-68 of this chapter for specific basic necessities except in an emergency or when the administrator elects to consolidate the applicant's deficit, as provided immediately below.

(d) Consolidation of deficit. As a general rule and to the extent of their deficit, applicants will be eligible for assistance for any basic necessity up to, but not exceeding, the maximum amount allowed for that necessity in this chapter or the actual thirty-day cost of the necessity, whichever is less. Under certain circumstances, however, and in accordance with the following conditions, the administrator may consolidate the applicant's deficit and apply it toward a basic necessity in an amount greater than the chapter maximum for that necessity.

(1) The practice of consolidating the deficit and applying it toward a basic necessity in amounts greater than the chapter maximum shall be the exception rather than the rule;

(2) The total general assistance grant cannot exceed the total deficit unless the applicant is in an emergency situation; and

(3) The need for the application of the recipient's consolidated deficit toward a basic necessity was not created by the recipient misspending his or her income or resources in violation of the use-of-income requirements of this chapter.

(Ord. of 4-28-2008, Art. VI, § 6.6)

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It should be noted that Appendices A—H referenced above are not set out at length herein, but are on file and available for inspection in the office of the town clerk.