(1) The benefit matrices in (1) (c) and (1) (d) are used to establish the benefit payable to an eligible household for a full heating season (October through April) . The benefit varies by household income level, type of primary heating fuel, the type of dwelling (single family unit, multi-family unit, mobile home) , the number of bedrooms in the dwelling, and the heating districts in which the household is located, to account for climatic differ­ences across the state.

(a) The benefit payable to an eligible household will be computed by multiplying the applicable amount in the table of base benefit levels found in (1) (c) by the applicable matrix amount in the table of income/climatic adjustment multipliers found in (1) (d) .

(b) Applicants may claim no more bedrooms than household members except that single elderly and disabled individual households are entitled to claim two bedrooms if their dwelling unit contains more than one bedroom.

(c) The following table of base benefit levels takes into account the number of bedrooms in a house, the type of dwelling structure, and the type of fuel used as a primary source of heating:

TABLE OF BENEFIT LEVELS

 

(i) SINGLE FAMILY

 

# BEDROOMS	NATURAL GAS	ELECTRIC	PROPANE	FUEL OIL	WOOD	COAL
ONE	$362	$ 407	$ 469	$ 374	$251	$166
TWO	526	592	683	544	365	241
THREE	717	806	930	742	497	328
FOUR	987	1,109	1,279	1,020	684	451

 

(ii) MULTI-FAMILY

 

# BEDROOMS	NATURAL GAS	ELECTRIC	PROPANE	FUEL OIL	WOOD	COAL
ONE	$306	$344	$ 397	$ 398	$212	$140
TWO	461	518	598	599	319	211
THREE	677	761	877	879	469	309
FOUR	790	889	1,025	1,028	547	361

 

(iii) MOBILE HOME

 

# BEDROOMS	NATURAL GAS	ELECTRIC	PROPANE	FUEL OIL	WOOD	COAL
ONE	$305	$343	$396	$331	$212	$140
TWO	446	501	578	484	309	204
THREE	591	665	767	641	410	270
FOUR	660	742	856	715	458	302

 

(d) The following table is based upon the household's income as a percentage of the federal poverty guideline and adjusted for climatic differences in the 10 human resource development council service areas in the state of Montana:

 

LOW INCOME ENERGY 37.70.601

 

TABLE OF INCOME/CLIMATIC ADJUSTMENT MULTIPLIERS
PERCENT OF POVERTY	AEM	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII
0 - 11	1.00	1.08	0.98	0.99	0.93	1.02	1.08	0.90	0.92	1.09
> 11 - 23	0.95	1.02	0.94	0.94	0.89	0.97	1.03	0.86	0.87	1.04
> 23 - 35	0.90	0.97	0.89	0.89	0.84	0.92	0.98	0.81	0.82	0.98
> 35 - 47	0.85	0.92	0.84	0.84	0.79	0.87	0.92	0.77	0.78	0.93
> 47 - 59	0.80	0.86	0.79	0.79	0.75	0.82	0.87	0.72	0.73	0.87
> 59 - 71	0.75	0.81	0.74	0.74	0.70	0.77	0.81	0.68	0.69	0.82
> 71 - 83	0.70	0.75	0.69	0.69	0.65	0.71	0.76	0.63	0.64	0.76
> 83 - 95	0.65	0.70	0.64	0.64	0.61	0.66	0.70	0.59	0.60	0.71
> 95 - 107	0.60	0.65	0.59	0.59	0.56	0.61	0.65	0.54	0.55	0.65
>107 - 119	0.55	0.59	0.54	0.54	0.51	0.56	0.60	0.50	0.50	0.60
>119 - 131	0.50	0.54	0.49	0.49	0.47	0.51	0.54	0.45	0.46	0.55
>131 - 143	0.45	0.48	0.44	0.44	0.42	0.46	0.49	0.41	0.41	0.49
>143 - 150*	0.40	0.43	0.39	0.39	0.37	0.41	0.43	0.36	0.37	0.44

 

*This category also applies to those whose income exceeds 150% of the poverty guideline and meets the criteria of ARM 37.70.406(1)(a).

(2) For households that applied for benefits for the 2004-2005 heating season prior to April 30, 2005 and were determined eligible, the heating season shall be extended until June 30, and they shall receive a supplemental benefit in addition to the benefit described in (1)(a). The supplemental benefit shall be equal to 27.95472% of the benefit provided in (1)(a) rounded to the nearest whole dollar or a minimum of $20, whichever is greater. This supplemental benefit will be paid for the 2004-2005 heating season only.