Chancellor’s Office Tax Offset Program (COTOP)
The Chancellor’s Office Tax Offset Program (COTOP) allows a college district to collect past due fees from former students such as student loans, financial aid overpayments, student fees, library fines, and personal checks written with insufficient funds.
Student accounts that have past due fees may be submitted to COTOP. This can include enrollment and associated fees incurred at any of the colleges – Contra Costa College, Diablo Valley College, and Los Medanos College.
Students who receive this letter need to pay their outstanding balance within 90 days of the first notification. (Students will receive two additional notifications at 60 and 30 day marks). Once 90 days have passed, your outstanding balance will be submitted to the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). The FTB will intercept the amount owed from your future state tax refunds, as well as any California lottery winnings or unclaimed property.* Please note that if your debt is submitted to the FTB, a 33.3% administrative fee will be added to the balance due.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
You received this letter because you have fees that have been pending payment in your student account from one or more previous semesters when you attended Contra Costa College, Diablo Valley College, or Los Medanos College. This letter is to formally notify you of these pending fees and please follow the instructions on the letter to pay the payment within 90 days. The 90 days will allow students time to question/petition the debt and/or pay the college before the tax offset process begins with the Franchise Tax Board.
Online payments may be made via the InSite system www.4cd.edu/insite. Please note that you may not be able to access your information online if you have not used InSite in the past year or if your debt is financial aid related. To activate your account, please contact helpdesk at 925-229-6888.
Contra Costa College Cashier’s Office
Diablo Valley College Cashier’s Office
The charges may include past due fees from former students, Examples include but are not limited to enrollment fees, student record fees, student loans, financial aid overpayments, student fees, library fines, and personal checks written with insufficient funds.
If you have recently paid your outstanding balance, please disregard this bill, and thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Debt notifications are sent to currently enrolled students via InSite email and personal email three times per semester. If the balance remains unpaid, students may also receive a notification of COTOP three times between August and October to personal email addresses and mailed to the last known address on file. It is the student’s responsibility to pay their tuition and fees after registering for classes and adhere to the college’s established deadlines.
The debt attempting to be collected will not be reported to credit agencies and will not affect your credit rating. However, you are expected to pay your outstanding balance within 90 days of receipt of your notification from the Contra Costa Community College District (4CD). Once 90 days have passed and you have not made the payment, your outstanding balance will be submitted to the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB).
Yes. You may choose to pay your outstanding balance in installments. However, any remaining outstanding balance will still be submitted to the California Franchise Tax Board until it is paid in full.
If you do not pay the bill, your outstanding balance will be submitted to the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). FTB will intercept the amount owed from your future state tax refunds, as well as any California lottery winnings or unclaimed property.
Please check your Financial Aid eligibility for the specific semester. For any discrepancies, please contact your college’s Financial Aid Office.
It is the student’s responsibility to drop courses according to the college’s established deadline. Please pay your outstanding balance online, by mail, by phone, or in-person.
Fees incurred prior to June 30 of the previous academic year, including balances associated with a non-resident status, cannot be retroactively appealed or adjusted. Outstanding balances can only be appealed within one academic year. Students are responsible for following the college’s published class add/drop/withdrawal deadlines.
If you believe you may be a victim of identity theft, please follow the appeal process and submit supporting evidence to the Admissions and Records Office.
You can mark the letter “Return to sender / incorrect address” and place it back in the mail. District attempts to reach debtors through multiple venues, including mail and email.
We are sorry for your loss. Please send applicable documentation (death certificate, program, news article, etc) to the contact information provided in the letter along with your contact information. Once received, we will write off the outstanding balance and contact you for additional information as needed.
*Contra Costa Community College District participates in the State Chancellor’s Office Tax Offset Program (COTOP) which partners with the FTB to collect outstanding fees. COTOP enables 4CD to avoid sending current or former students with outstanding balances to collections agencies. CA State Government Code Sections 12419.2, 12419.7, 12419.9, 12419.10, and 12419.11 authorize the Office of the State Controller and the FTB to intercept an individual’s state tax refund, CA lottery prize or unclaimed property and redirect those funds to pay debts owed to agencies/colleges.
 |
 |
 |
 |