ITEM TITLE:
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Approval of Write-Offs of Various City Fees to Be Forwarded to Collections Agency
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SUBMITTED BY: Brian Carlson, Finance Director
FISCAL NOTES:
Expenditure Required: n/a
Unencumbered Balance: n/a
Funding Source: n/a
RECOMMENDATION:
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Authorize write-off of identified delinquent fees exceeding $500, and forwarding of same to collections agency, pursuant to City Code, 2.20.010 and 2.20.020
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SUMMARY STATEMENT:
* The attached lists show various delinquencies for payment of fees. Staff periodically presents this list to council, and will present ongoing delinquency approvals on a quarterly basis.
* The Finance Director is authorized by City Code to write off delinquent accounts less than $500. Council authorization is required for write-offs exceeding $500.
* The agency (Cornerstone) retains 35% of delinquent fees collected.
* Property tax delinquencies entail a different foreclosure process, which will be presented to Council annually.
* Finance staff recommends that the following items be written off, but NOT sent to collections agency:
o State of Alaska, Dept of Corrections ($498.09); our contract does not allow for interest charges
o Federal Aviation Commission ($8.18); our contract does not allow for interest charges
o Valdez Terminal LLC ($1,553.13); this is a correctly-billed appraisal fee for a transaction that was ultimately not executed. Planning staff has since changed this policy to only bill for these charges for executed transactions.
o US Coast Guard ($560.66); Finance and Port staff are unable to reconcile this old balance following the billing software conversion. All other USCG accounts are in good standing.
* Traffic, Port, and Harbor write-offs are more numerous than usual owing to a longer interval since the last compiled list (early 2018). This resulted from a combination of staff turnover, software conversions, and ransomware. Staff anticipates a regular quarterly presentation of write-offs going forwar...
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