Collecting the Delinquents

Most Travis Co. residents pay their property taxes on time; those who can't make other payment arrangements – and those who won't are subject to legal action from the county attorney's office. Last year, the county's enforcement work generated about $3 million in court costs and attorneys' fees, and that money was deposited into the county treasury.

Former County Attorney Ken Oden argues that the county spends too much money pursuing these claims and says his firm could save taxpayers more than $10 million over a five-year period if granted a contract to take over the county's delinquent accounts. Such a contract could be worth additional millions to a private, for-profit firm because the law allows private attorneys to impose a 20% markup fee on late taxpayers.

Proponents of keeping the system in-house, including County Attorney David Escamilla, defend both the county's enforcement action and its overall collection rate, which averages 98.5%. The number of lawsuits increased after Oden left the county (he resigned in February 2003), Escamilla says, because the county beefed up legal staffing and other resources to tackle a backlog of delinquent accounts. (The number of agreements for partial payment also increased during the same period.) Here's a five-year review of the county's enforcement history under Oden and, starting in the 2002 tax year, Escamilla.

(Tax Year: Partial Pay Agreements / Lawsuits Filed / Civil Fees Collected)
1999: 2,871 / 3,426 / $1,260,490
2000: 3,244 / 2,947 / 1,623,636
2001: 3,919 / 3,702 / 2,101,827
2002: 5,248 / 5,328 / 3,367,503
2003: 4,826 / 2,940 / 2,950,015

Total: 20,108 / 18,343 / $11,303,471

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Source: Travis County