Tighten fee estimate accuracy and suggest waiver accounts for statutorily fee-free filings in Vermont

[nonprofittechy]

Background

In testing 100 diverse sample filings across 19 Vermont courts against Tyler's electronic filing manager (EFM), we identified a specific discrepancy between LITEFile's fee estimates and Tyler's live fee quotes on statutorily fee-free filings.

In Illinois and Massachusetts, Tyler is configured differently:

• Illinois has no platform fee ($0.00). When a case has a $0 court fee (e.g., Civil No Contact Order), Tyler quotes $0.00 with credit card, bank account, or waiver alike.
• Massachusetts has a uniform $22.00 platform fee on initial actions. LITEFile accurately estimates $22.64 (card) or $22.25 (eCheck) even for $0 base-fee cases like dismissal nisi refiles.
• Vermont, however, assesses a $14.00 platform service fee (plus credit card convenience fee, total $14.40) on initial filings even when the base court fee is $0.00 (e.g., Relief from Abuse, Add Name to Voter Checklist, and other non-fee statutory actions).

Under Vermont court rules and Tyler's configuration, the only way to avoid the $14.00 platform fee is to submit with a Waiver (WV) payment account. The Vermont Judiciary specifically instructs filers in statutory non-fee cases to select a Waiver account, regardless of income.

Problem

1. Estimate discrepancy (underestimating by $14.40):
   In efile_app/efile/static/config/states/vermont.yaml, the platform surcharge configuration includes:

   platform:
     amount: "14.00"
     timing: first_filing_per_filer
     exempt_when_court_fees_zero: true

   When a Vermont filing has a base court fee of $0.00, fee_surcharges.py assumes the $14.00 platform fee is waived and displays an estimate of ~$0.00. However, if the user proceeds with a credit card or bank account, Tyler quotes $14.40 (or $15.00 with bank account), causing an unexpected charge.

2. Missing waiver suggestion for statutory non-fee cases:
   While vermont.yaml includes a protection_order exemption pattern for Relief from Abuse/stalking, other statutory $0 filings (such as Add Name to Voter Checklist or statutory appeals) do not match the pattern. As a result:

   • The payment screen does not explain to filers that they are entitled to a full statutory exemption.
   • If they click the waiver option, the UI labels it "I think I qualify for a fee waiver" and prompts them for an income-based fee waiver application document, rather than recognizing the case-level statutory exemption.

Proposed solutions

1. Tighten estimate accuracy in vermont.yaml:

   • Refine or remove exempt_when_court_fees_zero: true when a paid payment method (Credit Card or Bank Account) is selected, so the estimate accurately shows that paying with a card/bank account incurs Tyler's $14.00 platform fee + convenience charge (~$14.40).
   • Ensure pre-payment guidance reflects that the fee is $0 only when claiming the statutory exemption via a waiver account.

2. Proactively suggest using the waiver account for statutorily fee-free filings in Vermont:

   • Expand exemption patterns in vermont.yaml to cover all known statutory non-fee case types (such as voter checklist petitions, statutory administrative reviews, etc.).
   • When an exemption applies, ensure the payment UI displays:
     • Radio option: "Claim the fee exemption for this case" (already implemented in payment.html when requires_waiver_account: true).
     • Guidance: "For this type of case, choose a waiver payment account to claim the exemption. You do not need to qualify based on income."
     • Suppress fee waiver application/financial affidavit upload requirements for these filings.
   • When the user selects this option, LITEFile's managed waiver account service (ensure_waiver_account) will automatically provision the waiver account, yielding an exact $0.00 quote.