TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

Library Cracking Down On Unpaid Fines, Fees

ADVERTISEMENT

By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: August 3, 2008

SEBRING - Officials of the Highlands County Library System think they have a solution to the system's sizable financial problem.

Unpaid fees for overdue materials and unpaid replacement-fee charges for materials that are never returned now total more than $217,000.

And, said Mary Myers, library system director, most of the unpaid debts are at least difficult to collect and many are virtually impossible to collect.

The library system, though, has a new and inexpensive way to collect most unpaid fees and fines assessed in the future: turning the bad debts over to a bill collection agency.

"By going to a collection agency we can take that job off our shoulders," Myers said.

Highlands County's three libraries are part of the Heartland Library Cooperative, in which the library systems of Highlands, Okeechobee, DeSoto, Hardee and Glades counties work together to cut costs and provide better services.

All five systems in the cooperative are contracting with Unique Management Services, a nationwide firm that deals only in collecting unpaid fines and fees owed to libraries.

"They are the major player in library collections across the country," Myers said. "They're everywhere from Salt Lake City to San Diego to Wichita Falls (Texas)."

"That's all they do is library collections," Myers added. "And they do with what they call the 'soft approach.'"

By "soft approach," Myers said, the company does not use any heavy handed or offensive tactics to collect debts.

However, the firm has one ultimate tactic which often proves effective in getting people who are reluctant to pay up to pay up.

The collection agency will only be called in for two circumstances, Myers said. One is when a book, movie, music CD or any other library item is more than 50 days past due. At that point, the 10 cents per day late fine is $5, and that late fine stays at $5 from then on.

If the overdue item is returned in, for example, at 60 or 70 days overdue, the fine is still the maximum $5.

The second reason for turning a debt over to the agency is when a borrowed material is more than 50 days overdue and the library has to assume that it is gone for good, and the borrower must pay the full price to replace that item, plus a $2 processing charge.

When a debt is turned over to the collection agency, Myers said, the agency will track the person, if necessary, and inform them that they must pay the $5 overdue fee to the library plus a charge of $8.95 for the collection agency's work.

If a replacement fee is being collected, the debtor must pay the full replacement cost for the book or movie or other loaned material, plus a $2 processing charge, plus the collection agency's $8.95 fee.

If a debtor to the library refuses to pay, Myers said, "then the ultimate end of this process is that they (Unique Management Services) will report it to the credit bureau. And then, if you go to buy a new car, or go to buy a house, you could be turned down for a loan because you owe the library, say, $50."

Myers will explain the collection agency plan to the Highlands County commissioners at their meeting Tuesday morning.

"If we don't do this," Myers said about hiring the collection agency, "then it is not fair to the other citizens and taxpayers of the county" who don't have unpaid library debts. "When library materials are not returned, all of the other citizens are deprived of the materials that they paid for with their tax dollars."

The collection agency will get paid only the $8.95 fee it collects per collection.

Myers said the agency will not try to collect the current debts totaling more than $217,000, with many individual people owing "several hundreds of dollars each."

"The collection agency only wants to see fresh accounts, because it's more likely that they'll be able to find those people," Myers said. "If an overdue account is several years old, there is a higher probability that that person is gone and they'll never be able to trace them."

Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or by e-mail at jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT