https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2005-05-06/269740/
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
Copyright © 2024 Austin Chronicle Corporation. All rights reserved.