Texas Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Program
Interagency Transfers, Deduction Timing, Salary/Wages to Support Deduction, Alterations/Cancellations

Interagency Transfers

When a state employee transfers from one state agency to another, the agency the employee transfers to may require the employee to provide copies of the Employee Payroll Deduction form for payroll files, if the employee wishes to continue payroll deductions.

Timing of Deductions

All payments are due on the first of each month. If a payment is received after the contract due date of any month, the account owner may be subject to late payment fees. Therefore, necessary deductions to satisfy the full amount due on the employee’s account on the first of each month should be deducted from the prior month’s payroll.

It is the employee’s responsibility to ensure his or her deductions will cover the contract payment. Neither the employee nor the agency will receive a monthly invoice for payroll deductions.

Salary or Wages to Support a Deduction

State employees are solely responsible for ensuring their salaries or wages are sufficient to support a deduction for a prepaid tuition or college savings contract. If a state employee’s salary or wages are insufficient to support the total of the prepaid tuition contract accounts designated for deduction, then no part of the deduction will be made from the payment being processed. The amount that could not be deducted will not be made up by deductions from subsequent payments of salary or wages to the employee. This is considered an “all or nothing” deduction.

Agencies should not cancel the deduction because the employee’s salary does not support the deduction. If an agency is unable to make the payroll deduction from salary or wages according to the rules and within the timeframes established by this policy, the agency should advise the employee that it is the employee’s responsibility to make the payment and avoid the penalty for a late payment or nonpayment.

Alterations, Cancellations and Effective Date of Deduction Authorization

Agencies must take the deduction from the salary or wages paid on the first workday of a month. If a state employee does not receive a payment of salary or wages on the first workday of a month, the agency may determine which payment of salary or wages to the employee to take the deduction from.

Prepaid tuition contract deductions are only made once each month. A state employee may cancel a payroll deduction at any time by submitting a written authorization to the agency payroll office. Any changes regarding the prepaid tuition or college savings contracts must be arranged by the employee with the Board.

If a state employee submits a request to his or her state agency to cancel a deduction or a contract within a deduction, the agency must send a copy of the request to the Board within two weeks of the effective date of the request.

Cancellations and alterations must be processed no later than the first workday of the second month following the month when the agency receives the authorization. The agency shall notify the Board of the cancellation of any established payroll deductions within two weeks of the cancellation.

Source

Texas Education Code, Chapter 54, Subchapters F, G and H.