Millions of dollars in overdue fines, fees remain on city’s books

A million here, a million there: At the city of Las Vegas, pretty soon you're talking about real money.

At a time of fiscal crisis, with the threat of the loss of 171 jobs very real, you have to believe every little million has become more important than ever.

After inquiring into the warrant collection efforts by the city, I can tell you that millions of dollars in overdue fines and fees remain on the books. Everyone involved agrees.

What I can't tell you is precisely how many millions are due, or whether it would be cost-effective to try to force the misdemeanor scofflaws to cough up the cash.

Now then, about that money.

Just last week, a city insider claimed that upward of $50 million in fines and fees owed the city have gone into warrant and collected dust. On Monday, City Manager Betsy Fretwell said she believed the number was closer to $20 million.

Las Vegas Municipal Court Administrator James Carmany, who oversees warrant collections by the Las Vegas Municipal Court marshals, says the figures can be confusing. There's a substantial difference, for instance, between the amount of bail originally set and the final amount adjudicated.

Whether the reliable figure is $50 million, $20 million, or somewhere in between, Carmany admits his office can do better when it comes to collecting.

"We believe and the judges believe we can do more, but we have to watch that we don't overreach in terms of cost versus benefit," Carmany says.

Not surprisingly, the city does better when the warrants are fresher. Those less than 180 days old have a high likelihood of being collected. The older they get, the lower the percentage. Overall, Carmany says, the city collects 75.6 percent of its outstanding warrants, including the money that was taken in by a third-party collection agency.

"But that doesn't mean we can't do better," Carmany says. "I don't want to sound as though there isn't room for improvement because there is. The earlier we can get a person who goes into warrant, the earlier we can tend to them, and the better chance we have of collecting."

There's talk of placing some deputies on a swing shift to improve collections, and a new computer system eventually should improve the speed of the process. Whether it will generate more revenue than it burns up is the question. Filling the jail with nonviolent poor people makes no sense, either.

The city doesn't want to spend dollars chasing dimes -- even if those dimes add up to millions.

But these days, every dime counts.

On Thursday, Mayor Oscar Goodman, Fretwell and Finance Director Mark Vincent rolled out a politically astute proposal to fill a $70 million revenue shortfall and balance the budget by revealing the cost in human terms -- 171 city workers will lose their jobs -- if public employee unions don't agree to 8 percent pay cuts and the elimination of annual raises and cost-of-living adjustments.

"In this day and age we have to do everything we can within the resources that we have to make sure we're getting what's owed," Fretwell said. "There's a reason why those warrants are issued: It's because people have failed to perform."

The fact that Fretwell, an astute numbers-cruncher, also seemed unclear about just how much money is owed, and how much is collectible, tells you how far officials have to go to prepare for a March 10 budget workshop.

Improved accounting and technology could speed the process, and getting the marshals into the field at different times of the day seems like a no-brainer.

Frankly, city officials should have plenty of motivation to improve their warrant collections:

The jobs they save could be their own.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.