The city of Santa Fe could get more aggressive this year in collecting about $14 million in outstanding taxes, fees, fines and utility bills. City Finance Director Mel Morgan told city councilors Wednesday that a report compiled by his department and a deputy city attorney determined that the city has an overall collection rate of about 96 percent over the last four years, leaving 4 percent of potential revenue unrecovered. Morgan suggested the city consider hiring a collections agency on a contingency basis to go after the cash. Aside from $7 million in unpaid parking tickets that have been in the city’s system and are identified as mostly “uncollectable” due to the statute of limitations, the area with the most uncollected revenue is the Public Utilities Department, which reported unpaid water, sewer and trash bills of more than $3.8 million. The Municipal Court reported more than $1.2 million in court fines and fees that have not been paid.
The fire department, which does not pursue delinquent ambulance bills sent to people who don’t have insurance, reported about $565,000 in unpaid bills so far in 2012. The police department reported that more than $365,000 in speed SUV citations, or tickets from the city’s mobile speed-enforcement program, remain unpaid. Another big loss is at the city’s libraries, where about 11,000 items worth about $266,000 have not been returned. “If we don’t collect, it’s not fair to the people we are collecting from, and there is no incentive for people who aren’t paying to do anything to get on top of it,” said Councilor Chris Calvert, who suggested the city make changes to its in-house collections practices rather than turning to a third party. Councilors on the Finance Committee expect to consider the course of action in the coming months. In the meantime, collection activities continue. Assistant City Attorney Jamison Barkley said the Utilities Department, for example, is preparing to send fresh “demand letters” to all delinquent accounts over $1,000.
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