City officials are creating a new centralized unit to collect unpaid fees and fines that total almost $1 billion, Mayor Annise Parker said Wednesday.
The mayor doesn’t expect to collect every outstanding fine, but she said even 30 percent would drastically help the city’s bottom line.
“I really don’t have any sympathy for folks who flagrantly violate laws and think they can get away with it,” she said.
On Wednesday, the mayor’s office released a list of the city’s worst debt offenders. UPS, for example, owes the city almost $120,000 in parking fines. FedEx owes about $22,000.
One woman even owes more than $5,800 in library fees.
So that’s why the mayor wants to centralize the city’s collections process. Right now, the city contracts with six outside vendors to collect those fines. Apparently, that’s not working.
“We need the money,†said council member Brenda Stardig. “We need to prevent more layoffs and more furloughs. I just don’t want to see any of our employees impacted because we failed to do our job.”
