40 Tex. Admin. Code § 854.41 - Set-Aside Fees
(a) The Agency
requires managers to pay a set-aside fee based on the monthly net proceeds of
their BET facilities. The purposes of requiring this payment are:
(1) to promote to the greatest possible
extent the concept of a manager being an independent business
individual;
(2) to cause BET to be
to the greatest extent possible, self-supporting;
(3) to encourage and stimulate growth in BET;
and
(4) to provide incentives for
the increased employment opportunities for blind individuals physically present
in Texas.
(b) Use of
funds. To the extent permitted or required by applicable laws, rules, and
regulations, the funds collected as set-aside fees shall be used by the Agency
for the following purposes:
(1) maintenance
and replacement of equipment for use in BET;
(2) purchase of new equipment for use in
BET;
(3) management
services;
(4) ensuring a fair
minimum return to managers; and
(5)
the establishment and maintenance of retirement or pension funds, health
insurance contributions, and provision for paid sick leave and vacation time if
it is so determined by a majority vote of licensed managers, after the Agency
provides to each such manager information on all matters relevant to these
proposed purposes.
(c)
Method of computing net proceeds.
(1) Net
proceeds are the amount remaining from the sale of merchandise of a BET
facility, all vending machine income, and other income accruing to the manager
from the facility after deducting the reasonable and necessary cost of such
sale, but excluding set-aside charges required to be paid by the manager. The
manager shall not remove any items from the inventory or other stock items of
the facility unless the manager pays for those items at the actual
cost.
(2) Costs of sales that may
be deducted from net sales to calculate net proceeds in a reporting period
shall be limited to:
(A) cost of merchandise
sold;
(B) wages paid to
employees;
(C) payroll taxes;
and
(D) the following reasonable
miscellaneous operating expenses that are directly related to the operation of
the BET facility. Discretionary expenses, not to exceed 1.5 percent of the
monthly net sales, or $150, whichever is greater. Expenses must be verifiable,
invoiced, and directly related to the operation of the facility. Acceptable
expenses include:
(i) rent and utilities
authorized in the permit or contract;
(ii) business taxes, licenses, and
permits;
(iii) telecommunication
services;
(iv) liability, property
damage, and fire insurance;
(v)
worker's compensation insurance;
(vi) employee group hospitalization or health
insurance;
(vii) employee
retirement contributions (the plans must be IRS-approved and not for the
manager);
(viii) janitorial
services, supplies, and equipment;
(ix) bookkeeping and accounting
services;
(x) trash removal and
disposal services;
(xi) service
contracts on file with the Agency;
(xii) legal fees directly related to the
operation of the facility (legal fees directly or indirectly related to actions
against governmental entities are not deductible);
(xiii) medical expenses directly related to
accidents that occur to employees at the facility, not to exceed
$500;
(xiv) purchase of personally
owned or leased equipment that has been approved by the Agency for placement in
the facility;
(xv) repairs and
maintenance to personally owned or leased equipment that has been approved by
the Agency to be placed in the facility;
(xvi) consumable office supplies;
(xvii) exterminator or pest control services;
and
(xviii) mileage expenses for
vehicles required for the direct operation of vending facilities at the rate
and method allowed by the Internal Revenue Service at the time the expenses are
incurred.
(3)
All reports by managers shall be accompanied by supporting documents required
by the Agency.
(d)
Method of computing monthly set-aside fee. The monthly set-aside fee of each
manager shall be a percentage of the net proceeds of the facility as determined
in accordance with this section. The provisions relative to the percentage
required to be paid as set-aside fees shall be reviewed by the BET director
with the active participation of ECM at least annually each state fiscal year.
The purpose of the review shall be to determine whether the percentage needs to
be adjusted in order to meet the financial needs of the program. The percentage
assessed against the net proceeds of facilities may be lowered or raised to
meet the needs of the program. ECM shall be provided with all relevant
financial and other information concerning the financial requirements of the
program no fewer than 60 days before a review by the BET director in which the
percentage is to be considered. For the period from the effective date of this
amended rule until BET director undertakes his or her first annual review of
the set-aside fee, the percentage shall be 5 percent.
(e) If ECM disagrees with the action taken to
establish a new set-aside fee rate after the annual review, then ECM may choose
to use the appeal process.
(f)
Payment of set-aside fee. The set-aside fee shall be submitted with the
manager's monthly statement of facility operations. The manager shall use BET
Monthly Facility Report, BE-117, to report monthly activities.
(g) Adjustments to monthly set-aside fee.
(1) To encourage managers to hire individuals
with disabilities, managers shall deduct from their set-aside payment up to 50
percent of the wages or salary paid to an employee who is blind or who has
another disability or disabilities (as defined by the Americans with
Disabilities Act) during any month up to an amount not to exceed 5 percent of
the set-aside payment amount for that month, or $250, whichever is less. A
manager may make this deduction for any number of employees who are blind or
have another disability as long as that deduction from the set-aside payment
amount does not exceed 25 percent of the total set-aside payment that is due,
or $1,250, whichever is less. The manager shall provide documentation to BET as
required by the Agency to verify such employment and the right to the reduction
in set-aside fees. For the purposes of this paragraph, "who is blind or who has
another disability" does not include:
(A) the
manager;
(B) an individual who is
blind or who has another disability at the first degree of consanguinity or
affinity to the manager; or
(C) an
individual who is blind or who has another disability claimed as a dependent,
either in whole or in part, on the manager's federal income tax
return.
(2) Adjustments
provided for in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not apply for any month
in which the set-aside fee is not paid in a timely manner.
(3) To encourage managers to file their
monthly statement of facility operations and pay their monthly set-aside fee
promptly, managers shall have their monthly set-aside fee increased by 5
percent of the total amount due if either their monthly statement or the
monthly set-aside fee is not received in a timely manner, pursuant to these
rules. None of the terms of this rule shall be construed to create a contract
to pay interest, as consideration for the use, forbearance, or detention of
money, at a rate more than the maximum rate permitted by applicable laws and
rules. This adjustment to the set-aside fee is not imposed as
interest.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.