§ 42-11.1-5 - Determination of eligibility for payment of interest.
SECTION 42-11.1-5
§ 42-11.1-5 Determination of eligibilityfor payment of interest. – (a) Each state agency which is required to make a payment from state fundsaccording to a contract and which does not make the contract payment by therequired payment date shall make an interest payment to the contractor inaccordance with this chapter on the amount of the contract payment which isdue, unless failure to make such contract payment is the result of a lien,attachment, or other legal process against the money due the contractor, orunless the amount of the interest payment as computed in accordance with theprovisions of § 42-11.1-6 is less than ten dollars ($10.00).
(b) The required payment date shall be thirty (30) workingdays after the receipt of an invoice for the amount of the contract paymentdue, except when:
(1) The state controller in the course of his or her auditdetermines that there is reasonable cause to believe that payment may notproperly be due, in whole or in part;
(2) In accordance with specific statutory or contractualprovisions payment must be preceded by an inspection period or by an audit todetermine the resources applied or used by a contractor in fulfilling the termsof the contract;
(3) The necessary state government appropriation required toauthorize payment has yet to be enacted;
(4) The cash balance of the fund or sub-fund from which thepayment is to be made is insufficient to finance the payment;
(5) A proper invoice must be examined by the federalgovernment prior to payment;
(6) The goods or property have not been delivered or theservices have not been rendered by the contractor in compliance with the termsor conditions of the contract;
(7) The required payment date is modified in accordance withsubsection (d) of this section.
(c) Any time taken to satisfy or rectify any of the types ofconditions described in subsection (b) shall extend the required payment dateby an equal period of time.
(d) Each state agency shall have five (5) working days afterreceipt of any invoice by the state agency at its designated payment office tonotify the contractor of defects in the delivered goods, property, or services.Defects in the invoice or improprieties shall delay the commencement of thetime period specified in subsection (b) of this section. When a state agencyfails to notify a contractor of such defects or suspected improprieties withinfive (5) working days of receiving the invoice, the number of days allowed forpayment of the corrected proper invoice will be reduced by the number of daysbetween the fifth day and the day that notification was transmitted to thecontractor. If the state agency, in such situations, fails to providereasonable grounds for its contention that a defect or impropriety exists, therequired payment date shall be calculated from the date of receipt of aninvoice.
(e) The budget office shall have five (5) working days afterreceipt of invoice to transmit the invoice to the controller's office forprocessing.
(f) Notwithstanding any provision of the general law of thestate of Rhode Island or any tariffs promulgated in accord therewith to thecontrary, the provisions of this chapter shall provide the sole basis fordetermining and making interest payments on invoices submitted by publicutilities to state agencies.
(g) A proper invoice submitted by the contractor shall berequired to initiate any payment, except where the contract provides that thecontractor will be paid at predetermined intervals without having to submit aninvoice for each scheduled payment, in which case the state agency responsiblefor making the purchase shall submit an approval voucher to the statecontroller for the payment that is due and, for the purposes of determiningeligibility for payment of interest and subject to the exception oftime-to-rectify provisions of subsection (b) of this section, the requiredpayment date shall be the payment due date specified in accordance with thecontract.