HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 11071989 - 1.64 1 -®64
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra
ate•:
FROM: Phil Batchelor, County Administrator
Costa
n.
s
DATE: November 7, 1989 County
SUBJECT: COURT FINE COLLECTIONS
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION:
Recognize policy changes made by the Municipal Courts, at the request
of the Office of Revenue Collections (ORC) , designed to increase the
collection of court fines.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The changes increased court fine revenue and will eventually decrease
the uncollected balance. There are no costs related to
implementation.
BACKGROUND-
On December 12 , 1988 the Internal Operations Committee asked the
Office of Revenue Collection to undertake an intensive collection
effort of court fines. Out of total court fine revenues of $14.7
million, ORC collected $3 . 4 million in fiscal year 1987-88 and the
remainder was collected by the Municipal Courts. ORC does not collect
the majority of court fine revenue, but is responsible for those cases
that the Court rules may be paid over time. These are generally
expensive cases, such as drunk driving fines.
In the past, collection efforts by ORC were hampered by problems such
as inconsistent policies between the four courts regulating ORC
collection, unclear payment due dates, and an internally 'lengthy
payback period. A court order revising policies and procedures for
installment payments to ORC corrected many of these problems. Since
April 1989 when the court order became effective, the amount of
revenue collected by ORC has increased. For example, court fine
revenue collected by ORC in July and August of 1989 totalled $708,060;
whereas revenue from the same time period totalled $579 ,690 in 1988
and $517 , 899 in 1987 .
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: _YES SIGNATURE:
U
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR -RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE _OTHER
SIGNATURE(S):
ACTION OF BOARD ON NOV 7-1424 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED _> OTHER -
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
x UNANIMOUS(ABSENT AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
CC: County Administrator' s Office ATTESTED NOV 7 1989
Office of Revenue Collection PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
Municipal Court Administration SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
M382 (10/88) BY ,DEPUTY
-2-
ORC expects the changes in policy to eventually reduce the backlog of
uncollected accounts. During the second year of implementation, the
new collections procedures should reduce the number of accounts which
are uncollected. As of mid-August 1989, ORC was responsible for $7 . 9
million of uncollected accounts, which was about one-half the total
collected amount of $15.7 million.
Although further collection efforts will increase court fine revenue,
a number of factors not related to ORC and the collection process
limit County revenue from court fines. Unfortunately two major
variables are not under the County' s control. First, not all court
fine revenue is due to the County. In fiscal year 1987-88,
approximately $7 .4 million, or one-half of court fine revenue went to
the County and the remainder to cities and other entities. Secondly,
the popularity of traffic school attendance in lieu of traffic fine
payment has significantly reduced the amount of revenue collected.
The administrative fee for traffic school is less than the fine
amount, reducing revenue earned from one-half to one-third the
original amount due from an individual case.
Those projects which will improve collection efforts should be pursued
with the understanding that they alone cannot increase the level of
County court fine revenue. Projects under consideration include a
computer system for the Municipal Courts to track fine collections and
fine payment by credit card. When funding permits, the County may
want to pursue 'tom the creation of a Financial Hearing Officer
position. This position would reduce the amount of time between a
judge' s determination and actual fine payments.