Immediately upon receipt of an invoice for goods or services provided by a federal government agency, or other notification that a state agency owes money to a federal agency, state agencies should make every effort to make payment to the federal government promptly or contest the billing.

If a notice of unpaid debt is received by a state agency, the notice will provide the amount, type of debt owed, and the federal agency that referred the debt to the Department of Treasury for collection. If the state agency believes the debt collection notice was issued in error or is erroneous, the state agency should immediately contact the federal agency that referred the debt for collection. Affected state agencies are responsible for resolving federal billing issues. Neither the Department of Treasury nor OSC can resolve issues regarding debts owed to federal agencies.

If a Treasury offset is taken, a notice is sent to the state agency that had funds taken notifying them that a portion of their payment was applied to a NYS debt.  Once the agency receives the monthly email from OSC containing information about the offsets that occurred, it is their responsibility to work with the debtor agency to receive reimbursement, either by check or revenue transfer.

Each agency should update OSC on staff changes for who should receive the information regarding Federal offsets by emailing [email protected].

Additional Information

See the Department of Treasury - Treasury Offset Program website for more information about the Treasury Offset Program

https://fiscal.treasury.gov/fsservices/gov/debtColl/dms/top/debt_top.htm

Questions about state-administered federal drawdowns that have been reduced by the Treasury Offset Program or about this procedure may be referred to the OSC Bureau of State Accounting Operations, Federal Billing and Projects team at [email protected].

Per TOP policy, Federal TOPs staff will only communicate with designated Federal Grant staff at OSC.

Guide to Financial Operations

REV. 01/16/2025