To figure out yearly gross income, the CAO or other LIHEAP administering agency must use income received in the month prior to the month of application or, if requested by the applicant, the 12-month period ending the month before the application date. The CAO must use the previous month's income even if the household provides pay stubs for 12 months if the income for the previous month is less after it is converted to a yearly amount.
Example: The Martinez family applies for LIHEAP. They give the CAO 12 months of pay stubs from Harris Brothers Paving showing a yearly income of $35,000. The income limit for a family of four is $34,575. Rather than using this, the CAO uses income from the month before the application, which amounts to $2,505, and multiplies this by 12 to get a yearly income of $30,060. As the Martinez household is ineligible for LIHEAP using 12 months of income, the CAO enters the $2,505 from the previous month's wages into e-CIS, which converts it to a yearly amount and deducts 20 percent of the wages to determine the benefit amount.
If the total gross annual income of the household after all allowable exclusions and deductions is more than the income limit, the household is ineligible.
Example: Luanne and their three children apply for LIHEAP. The children receive $2,400 a month in Social Security Survivors benefits. Luanne also works at a part-time job and shows pay stubs for the previous month verifying weekly gross wages of $400. The total monthly household income is $4,000. Luanne does not qualify for LIHEAP because the yearly income of $48,000 is more than the income limit for a family of four ($34,575). Their earned income is not subject to the 20 percent deduction because they do not pass the gross income test.
The CAO can use the difference in year-to-date (YTD) amounts to determine income in the look back month when the applicant does not provide all paystubs.
Representative income is the most accurate picture of the amount of income a household receives.
If the applicant provides partial income documentation from the month of application or the previous month and says this income is representative, the CAO may use this income to determine whether the household qualifies for LIHEAP. Proof of income may be one pay stub as long as the applicant says it is representative of weekly or bi-weekly pay.
Example: Margaret applies for LIHEAP for themselves, their child and a niece. Margaret works for the county commissioners and provides a pay stub from the 30-day period before the date of application. The weekly gross pay is $450. They say this is representative of their income. The CAO uses $450 weekly to determine eligibility. The CAO compares Margaret's annual income of $21,600 to the income limit for three people ($28,635). Because Margaret is eligible for LIHEAP, the CAO deducts 20 percent from the wages to determine benefit amount.
Year-to-date (YTD) income can also be used to compute a representative pay when the pay stub contains the number of pays received in the calendar year. To determine a representative pay the CAO would divide the YTD income by the number of pays received. This representative pay would then be entered as a projected pay with the frequency the pay is received.
Example: John works at Target and is paid bi-weekly; they applied for LIHEAP in November. John only has their most recent pay stub, which is the last pay they received in October, and states they generally work the same amount of hours each month. John’s pay stub shows the YTD total along with the number of pays they have received this year. The CAO can take the YTD gross amount and divide it by the number of pays John has received. This amount will be a representative pay for John and should be entered as a bi-weekly pay within the look back month.
Updated August 15, 2025, replacing August 20, 2024