In just about everyone's household these days every dollar can make a difference. But when some of our viewers got this letter from Michigan's Department of Human Services in the mailbox, they were left scratching their heads. It says they will get an extra dollar on their Food Assistance Bridge Cards to help them heat their homes. They were left wondering why the benefit boosts, and just how much taxpayer money did it cost to mail them the letter in the first place. The answers are the subject of this Fact Finder.
When Todd Oetting went to his mailbox recently he says he discovered a very confusing piece of mail. As he explains it "I received a letter saying that I was going to get, because I receive food stamps, that I am eligible for a $1 low income home and energy assistance program which I don't understand." That's right. Todd Oetting and hundreds of thousands of other Michigan residents will soon be getting a one a year, one time, $1 increase on their Bridge Cards.
Here is the actual letter that Todd received. Todd says this was the only piece of paper found in the envelope he received.
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When I asked Todd what he was supposed to do with the extra dollar, he explained that the letter said he was supposed to use if for heating or weatherization costs for his home. Todd understood that concept but was left confused; he asked "what is one dollar going to do for me?" And that confusion wasn't limited to just Todd. He says he knows several neighbors who received the letter, who didn't understand it, and also thought it didn't make a lot of sense.
Todd says the one paragraph letter doesn't do a very good job explaining why this one dollar will be added once a year as long as the funds last, or why it's worth the paper, envelope, postage and printing to let him know about it in the first place. The way Todd sees it, "I think they spend more money sending this out then it is to get a dollar. This, this is waste."
Todd called me with two questions. So I got to work finding him the answers. His first question was how this $1 bump was supposed to make a difference? I contacted the Department of Human Services to get to the bottom of it. Here is what they told me was the motivation for adding the buck to the Bridge Cards:
"Under federal guidelines, Michigan and nine other states including Oregon and Mass., use federal energy dollars to help some clients qualify for additional food assistance dollars. Because these clients are then receiving federal energy assistance, federal guidelines then allow us to use a larger expense amount for utilities when calculating how much these individuals and families can qualify for in food assistance."
So by giving Bridge Card recipients the $1 benefit through the federal low income home energy assistance program, DHS says it opens up more federal dollars to fund the state's food assistance program. How much? DHS says that one dollar boost could mean up to $192 million dollars more in federal money coming to help Michigan's hungry. That adds up to about $88 dollars per household per month for those that qualify. So if DHS doesn't give the dollar, the state doesn't qualify for the additional federal funds. That's why DHS says they did it. To read more from DHS about the program click here.
As for Todd's second question: how much did it cost taxpayers to send this single letter to explain the dollar boost? DHS told me they spent $1 million to "to give about 848,000 Michigan households the $1 and for printing and mailing the notices." So they spent a million, gave out 848,000 one dollar benefits, which leaves $152,000 to cover the cost of the printing, paper, and postage for the letter.
DHS told me they were not required to send this letter, but in their words "we wanted to inform our clients to minimize any confusion"
What do you think? I want to hear from you on this one. Does this letter make sense? Is this government waste or taxpayer money responsibly spent to inform the public? Please leave a comment with your thoughts below.
