 Beginning last week it began advertising delinquent sewer accounts
and turning parking tickets over to a collection agency.Since
last fall aldermen have discussed several options on how to collect
these old sewer accounts.
They talked first about offering a sewer amnesty day when
customers with past-due accounts could have their bill reduced
significantly if they would pay up by a certain deadline.
Another option discussed was turning the sewer billing over to
Illinois American Water and letting them take care of collections
through whatever means they would choose.
This idea didn't fly, though, because the water company would add
surcharges to the customer accounts, and several of the aldermen
were opposed both to adding that burden to the customer and to
giving that extra money to the water company.
One option that seemed most attractive to the council was
entering into an agreement for water shut-off with Illinois
American, but then the city would benefit only on the larger bills
because it would have to reimburse Illinois American for the days
the water was actually shut off.
The city was also approached by Midwest Credit & Collection of
Decatur regarding turning the old bills over for collection. In the
end this idea was tabled because the fee charged against each
account collected was greater than the council thought it should be.
They did, however, leave this option open for future consideration.
While the last two options have not been completely ruled out,
what it came down to at the council meeting last week was a request
from Alderman Buzz Busby, who chairs the sewer committee, for
approval to publish the list of delinquent accounts.
He said it was his hope that when people realized their name was
in the paper, they would be embarrassed enough to come forward and
try to do something about it.
Late last week the list went up in Lincoln Daily News. It is
accessible through a red button on the left-hand side of the front
page. To find it, look for "Delinquent Sewer List."
Currently the "click" will take you to a list of delinquent
accounts, but soon it will be a link to the same list on the city
website.
Denise Martinek, city clerk, said on Monday afternoon that city
police Detective Paul Adams has volunteered to keep the city website
up to date and is currently working on putting the list together.
Once on the website, the list will be updated as needed.
To be on the list, the sewer account will have reached a
delinquency of 90 days and will have had a lien filed against the
real estate.
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Martinek said that the theory of embarrassing customers into
taking action may be working, as she has already had a few people
come in to discuss payment arrangements.
She said she wanted to remind those with large bills that there
are payment options available, and like most creditors, the city
will work with the customer in setting up a plan to clear up the
debt.
Another problem area for the city is in its parking tickets.
Martinek said she didn't have an exact number on how many dollars
have gone unpaid in the past, but she cites that she has a large box
of tickets that would probably add up to more than 200 citations
that have gone unpaid.
She said that in the past, turning unpaid tickets over to a
collection agency has been an occasional practice, but starting now,
it will be a continual practice.
When tickets are issued, the violator has 60 days to pay his or
her fine. Effective immediately, on day 61 that ticket will be
turned over to Midwest Credit & Collection, and they will pursue the
violator by whatever means they deem necessary.
Martinek said that already she has turned over about $1,500 in
unpaid tickets to the firm, and she has many more that will be going
to them in the near future.
She also said that she has unpaid tickets going back as far as
2004, and the collection agency is looking into the statute of
limitations on those as well.
Martinek said that a lot of the unpaid tickets are for the larger
violations such as illegal parking in a handicap zone, which carries
a fine of $250, and illegal parking in a fire lane, which will cost
the violator $50.
Typically a collection agency will make personal contact in
writing or with phone calls, and if necessary may take legal action,
which could include wage garnishment or something more drastic.
Martinek said she doesn't know just how far the firm will go to
collect these fines, but she is confident they will do whatever it
takes to recover as much of this money as possible.
[By NILA SMITH]
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