County of Yuba Benefit Calculations Examination Study Guide

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1 County of Yuba Benefit Calculations Examination Study Guide The following study guide will familiarize and assist you with preparing for a written examination containing multiple-choice benefit calculations practice items. The sample questions provided in this study guide are intended to give you an idea of the types of items you may encounter on the County examinations. However, it is important to note that actual test questions will vary in content and level of difficulty, depending on the job class being tested. For example, the Office Assistant (an entry-level classification) examination will ask questions of a lower difficulty level than the Office Specialist (an advanced journey-level classification) examination. To determine if the examination you are scheduled to take contains the content in this study guide, refer to the Invitation to Examination letter you have received. This letter will clearly state which subject areas are included on the examination. The Personnel Department recommends you also review the Preparing for a Written Examination guide available on our website for general tips and advice for preparing for and taking written examinations with Yuba County. If you have any questions or concerns regarding written examinations or the recruitment process, please contact the Personnel Department. About this Examination Guide: This guide contains a sample of the different types of questions that may be asked within this content area. None of the sample questions will be on the actual examination; however, the questions in this guide will be similar to the actual questions you will encounter. After each practice exam you will be given the correct answers to the questions and an explanation (if necessary) for why it is the best choice. You should carefully study each sample question to become familiar with questions of the same type on the examination. How to Use this Examination Guide: Read each question carefully. Then read all of the answer choices to each question before deciding which answer is correct. If you are having difficulty in determining the correct answer to a question, skip the question and come back to it later. It is to your advantage to answer each question even if you must guess. With a few exceptions (the exam proctor will be very clear if this is the case) there are no penalties for wrong answers. Your score is determined by the number of correct answers. After you complete each practice examination you should review the solutions page to determine areas for improvement. You may take the practice exams multiple times until you are familiar and comfortable with the format and content of the exam. Do not be discouraged if you are not able to answer some of the sample questions correctly. If you feel you need more practice than this study guide offers, the local library may have reference materials to help you or the Personnel department may be able to help you locate additional study guides on the Internet. 1

2 Practice Exam 1 DIRECTIONS: Use the information below to answer the questions that follow. Assume the following to be true, regardless of your personal knowledge of social service aide. Darken the box on your answer sheet corresponding to the single best answer for each of the following questions. Shelter Costs Households (HH) that incur shelter and/or utility expenses may receive income deductions. Shelter costs are determined at the time of application for benefits and recertification for continuing benefits and shall remain fixed at the determined amount until the HH reports a change. Utility allowances shall be determined at application and at recertification and shall remain in effect during the entire certification period. I. Shelter costs a. Include rent, mortgage, or costs leading to the ownership of the shelter such as loan repayments for the purchase of a mobile home, including interest payments. Also included are property taxes and insurance on the structure. b. One-time deposits are not included as shelter costs. c. Shelter costs may be prorated which means the amount of shared living expenses paid or contributed cannot be stated as a set amount such as pooled income or Food Stamp (FS) HH paying a percentage or fraction of total expenses d. Households with excluded member will receive shelter deduction based upon the following factors: i. Whether a member is contributing towards the expenses. ii. Money and/or resources available to make a contribution toward shelter deductions. iii. Contributions made by an IPV/Work Sanctioned household member are not deducted from the total shelter expense paid by the FS HH. All Food Stamp eligible members plus the IPV/Work Sanctioned members are counted in the proration. iv. Contributions made by SSI/SSP Recipients and/or Excluded Students towards shelter expenses will be deducted from the FS HH shelter expense with the remainder allowed as the deduction. When the contribution amount cannot be determined, these household members are counted in the proration. If the SSI recipient and/or the excluded student do not contribute towards the shelter expenses, they will not be included in the proration. v. When a contribution towards shelter expenses is made by an Ineligible Alien and/or an SSN disqualified household member, the members will be included in the proration of expenses, but only the eligible members share is counted as a deduction. 2

3 1. The client provides a mortgage statement of $1, which includes an escrow account, an annual property tax statement of $1, and their semi-annual homeowner s insurance policy of $ What is the monthly shelter cost? a. $1, b. $1, c. $1, d. $1, A rent receipt is provided for $ The client discloses that the home is shared with another family and shares all expenses equally. What is the monthly shelter cost? a. $ b. $ c. $ d. $ A Food Stamp household consists of five family members. Both parents are sanctioned. The lease agreement indicates the monthly rent is $1, What is the monthly shelter cost allowed? a. $1, b. $ c. $ d. $1, A Food Stamp household receives Section 8 housing assistance. The rental agreement indicates the total monthly rent is $ The client is only required to pay $ What is the monthly shelter cost? a. $ b. $1, c. $1, d. $ A rent receipt is received from a family moving to a new address. The total amount on the receipt is $1, The landlord notates that $ of that amount is the security deposit. What is the monthly shelter cost? a. $1, b. $1, c. $ d. $ An SSI/SSP couple and their two children pay $ monthly rent which includes utilities. What is the monthly shelter cost? a. $ b. $ c. $1, d. $1,

4 Practice Exam 1 Solutions Note: Typically, there are multiple ways of obtaining the correct answer to each question. This practice exam includes one possible means of determining the correct answer. Remember, you will be allowed to use calculators for most County examinations. 1. C. The answer can be found by looking at Section A. The full mortgage amount can be included as shelter. The referenced escrow account consists of property taxes and insurance which are specifically included under Section A as an allowable expense. As these amounts are already built into the mortgage statement, they do not need to be considered twice. 2. D. The answer can be found by looking at Section C. The total rent is $ and it is shared by two families, so we divide $ by 2 to find the pro-rated amount of $ A. The answer can be found by reviewing Section D (i). A household with an excluded member will receive a shelter deduction and the contribution made by a sanctioned household member will not be deducted from the total amount paid by the food stamp household. Therefore, the total shelter expense of $1000 will be counted as an income deduction. 4. D. The answer can be found in Section C; HH paying a percentage or fraction of total expenses. While the rental agreement states $900 the actual cost to the client is only $ The client is only paying a fraction of the total expense, so only that fraction is allotted. 5. C. The answer is found in Section B. While the total receipt is for $1,000, $ of that is a security deposit which is deemed a one-time deposit under Section B. Therefore, we have to subtract the $400 from the $1000 to allot $ in shelter cost. 6. B. The answer is found in Section D (iv) where it states that if SSI recipient do not contribute towards the shelter expenses, they will not be included in the proration. The question does not provide that the SSI couple is contributing; therefore they are excluded from the proration. Thus the total monthly rent of $800 should be divided equally by the number of members in the household, 4, to get a per person allowance of $200. As only two members of the household can be included, the allowance is 2 X $200 = $

5 Practice Exam 2 DIRECTIONS: Use the information below to answer the questions that follow. Assume the following to be true, regardless of your personal knowledge of social service aide. Darken the box on your answer sheet corresponding to the single best answer for each of the following questions. II. Utility expenses a. The cost of heating and cooking fuel, cooling and electricity, water and sewage, garbage and trash collection fees, basic service and rental fee for one telephone (including tax on the basic fee), and fees charged by the utility provided for initial installation of the utility. Utility costs are not allowed if they are included in the monthly rent. b. There are three different standards or allowances which may be used as utility deductions depending on their monthly costs. The three options are Standard Utility Allowance (SUA), Telephone Utility Allowance (TUA) and Limited Utility Allowance (LUA). i. Standard Utility Allowance (SUA) The SUA is mandatory for all HH s which incur heating and cooling costs separate and apart from their rent or mortgage payments. This includes residents of rental housing who are billed on a monthly basis by their landlords for actual usage as determined through individual metering. DO NOT PRORATE SUA when the HH lives with and shares utility expenses with an excluded/ineligible HH member or when the HH lives with and shares utility expenses with another HH. Food Stamp eligible HHs shall receive the full SUA if heating or cooling costs are incurred. ii. Limited Utility Allowance (LUA) HH s that do not qualify for SUA, but incur expenses for at least two separate utilities other than heating or cooling are eligible for LUA. Allowable utilities outside heating or cooling expenses include telephone, water, sewer, and garbage. Do not prorate LUA when the FS HH lives with an excluded/ineligible HH member or when the HH lives with and shares utility expenses with another HH. iii. Telephone Utility Allowance (TUA) A HH that is not eligible for SUA or LUA, but incurs a telephone expense, (or in its absence, an equivalent form of communication) is eligible to receive a telephone deduction. Standard / Allowance Amount SUA $ 287 LUA $ 88 TUA $ 20 5

6 1. The house is shared by three families. The client pays a flat monthly amount of $ each month which includes all utility expenses. The total rent amount is $1, PG&E runs them about $ a month. What is the monthly utility cost? a. $ b. $ c. $0.00 d. $ A family s mobile home rent covers all utility expenses except for water and garbage. The landlord meters the water and bills them about $30.00 each month. Their garbage bill averages about $20.00 a month. What is the monthly utility cost? a. $15.00 b. $50.00 c. $44.00 d. $ Another Food Stamp household moved in with the family in the above example and will pay half of all shelter and utility expenses. What is the new monthly utility cost? a. $15.00 b. $50.00 c. $44.00 d. $ An eligible student needs internet to communicate with professors via but cannot afford both internet and telephone costs. What is the monthly utility cost? a. $0.00 b. $20.00 c. $25.00 d. $ An SSI/SSP couple and their two children pay $ monthly rent which includes utilities what are the monthly utility costs? a. $20.00 b. $80.00 c. $ d. $0.00 6

7 Practice Exam 2 - Solutions 1. C. The answer can be found in section (A) which states, utility costs are not allowed if they are included in the monthly rent. In this situation, utility expenses are included in the flat monthly amount of $600 paid by the client. 2. D. The answer can be found by looking at the Allowance Table. As the water and garbage utilities are not covered under the rent, they may be assigned an utility allowance, per Section a. Under Section b.ii it states that telephone, water, sewer and garbage are considered under the LUA. On the Allowance Table the standard allowance for LUA is $ D. The answer does not change because LUA is not prorated when a Food Stamp household lives with and shares utility expenses with another household. 4. B. The utility in question is the Telephone Utility Allowance, covered under Section b.iii. What the student can or cannot afford with the allowance is irrelevant. The question is solely what the allowance is, and that can be found by looking at the Allowance Table for the TUA, which is $ D. The answer can be found by referring to Section a where it states clearly that Utility costs are not allowed if they are included in the monthly rent. In this question the couple s monthly rent includes their utilities. Therefore, they will not get a separate utility allowance. 7

8 Practice Exam 3 DIRECTIONS: Use the information below to answer the questions that follow. Assume the following to be true, regardless of your personal knowledge of social service aide. Darken the box on your answer sheet corresponding to the single best answer for each of the following questions. III. Childcare/Dependant Care Expenses Certain programs allow for childcare or dependent care expenses as deductions. The maximum amount allowed per child varies on the age of the child. Only the actual verified amount is allowable. Expenses may not exceed the maximum deduction. Maximum Deduction Age of Child $ 200 Under 2 years old. $ 175 Over 2 years old. 1. A father verified having paid $ monthly child care costs for all three of his children, two of which are 6 month old twins and the eldest who is 3. What is the maximum childcare cost? a. $ b. $ c. $ d. $ A family pays $ each month to a private school for their 5 year old. The school provides after school childcare which total to $170 each month. What is the allowable childcare cost? a. $ b. $ c. $ d. $ The client verifies having paid $ each month in child care expenses for the youngest two children who are 6 months and 20 months old. The oldest is able to stay at the after school program free of charge. What is the allowable childcare cost? a. $ b. $ c. $ d. $ What will allowable costs change to when the 20 month old in the above scenario turns two? a. $ b. $ c. $ d. $

9 Practice Exam 3 - Solutions 1. C. The answer can be found by adding the amounts allowed for each child. The three year old is allowed $175 while the 6 month old twins are allowed $200; = $ D. The maximum amount allowable for a child this age is $175 but the actual amount paid is less. Therefore, the actual amount of the expense is allowed rather than the maximum. 3. A. The answer can be found by adding the amounts allowed for each child. The six month and 20 month old each allow $200; = $ The fact that the oldest is able to stay free of charge affects the allowable amount. Therefore, the maximum deduction is reduced to the $350 the client actually pays for the childcare. 4. A. When the 20 month old turns two the potential allowable expense will be reduced accordingly, to $175 = $200 = $ However, as the actual usage ($350) is still lower than the maximum deduction, the actual allowable costs will remain $350. 9

10 Practice Exam 4 DIRECTIONS: Use the information below to answer the questions that follow. Assume the following to be true, regardless of your personal knowledge of social service aide. Darken the box on your answer sheet corresponding to the single best answer for each of the following questions. IV. Standard Deduction The standard deduction is based off of the amount of household members. Number of Household Members Standard Deduction 1 $ $ $ $ $ or more $ Determine the standard deduction for a household consisting of mother, father, stepson and granddaughter. What is the standard deduction? a. $ b. $ c. $0.00 d. $ Determine the number of people in the household who would receive a standard deduction of $ a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. All of the above 3. What is the standard deduction for a five member household sharing a home with a single parent and two children? a. $ b. $ c. $ d. none of the above 10

11 Practice Exam 4 - Solutions 1. A. The question lists four individuals, so you would find the answer on the chart under four household members. 2. D. There are several household sizes with this allowance; 1, 2 and 3; therefore the answer is all of the above. 3. C. The household still has five members therefore; the standard deduction is $