ARM 37.70.601. BENEFIT AWARD

(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.