D-H-S says mistakes are dropping for food stamp payments

Officials at the Iowa Department of Human Services are crowing over a new record low number of errors made last year on food stamp benefits. D-H-S spokesman Roger Munns says errors were made in about six-point-three percent of the cases out of 140-thousand Iowans who get food stamps.Errors in food stamp distribution include people who aren’t eligible who receive the benefits and errors in the amounts. Munns says the new record is a significant improvement from the late 90s when the error rate was twice as high.The error rate in 1998 was over 13-percent. Munns fears state budget cuts and higher workloads caused by the economy may keep D-H-S from further improving upon the low error rate. He says applications are handled by 600 workers around the state who also handle applications for other services. He says the workers are facing an increasing workload as more budget cuts are made.Food stamp benefits are determined by a complicated series of rules based upon income, resources, relationships, people sharing meals, household expenses, vehicles owned, daycare expenses, child support payments and other variables.