INFORMATION #2 08-09-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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the graph of monthly revenue collected from June 2002 to now shows a steady increase in monies collected. The court's ability to improve collections and increase revenues in spite of declining traffic case filings can be explained by the many new collection tools implemented by staff. First of all, the court implemented credit/debit card payments for fines and fees in December 2002. The third graph shows the monthly amount of debit/credit card revenue collected since inception. Secondly, in April 2003 the court started the revenue re-capture program through the State Department of Revenue. We began this process after the 2003 tax season so total colleciions for that year were only $3362.92. The total to date for 2004 is $15,189.48.. Aisc in 2003, the court developed an amnesty program on warrants for outstanding fines and DL suspensions. The court mailed letters to all defendants that qualified for the program. Our data shows an increase in revenue in August, September and October 2003, which is directly linked to the amnesty program. In February 2004, Sherburne County Court system became the first in the 10th Judicial District to offer wage withholding as an option for people to pay fines and fees. Finally, our court asked to work with the Minnesota Collection Enterprise (MCE). The MCE is a division of the Department of Revenue and is the State's own collection agency. The MCE functions much like a private collection agency and would be used to pursue debt in cases where the courts own collection methods proved unsuccessful. At this time, MCE is not adding any new counties to its system because of the workload associated with Hennepin and Ramsey counties. Sherburne County is on the list of counties that in the future will be added to the MCE customer database when the agency is able to handle more clients.