The Buffalo Common Council voted to send a request for reports and testimony about the city’s fines, fees and collections to the Finance Committee, with council members urging departmental attendance to explain low collection rates and the implications for the city budget.

Majority Leader Helton Pope, who worked with the resolution sponsor, said the item is timely ahead of midterm budget hearings and asked law department representatives, the Department of Permits and Inspections (DPI), and other departments to explain why collection targets included in the budget are not being met.

Councilmember Everhart said the city had placed about $7,000,000 in housing fines on the books but had collected only roughly 8 percent of that amount. "We only collected 8%, which is pretty abysmal," she said, adding that the primary goal of fines should be to gain compliance and improve neighborhood conditions.

Councilmembers pressed for a detailed explanation: whether collection failures stem from court waivers, administrative inability to collect, or insufficient enforcement mechanisms. Councilmember Nowakowski compared municipal enforcement to private collections, saying that when individuals fail to pay, liens are placed; he urged a "swift and firm" mechanism to collect what is owed to the city.

Action taken: the council moved to send item 48 (requesting reports and testimony on fines, fees, and collections) to the Finance Committee; the motion was seconded by Councilmember McGlombeck and adopted.

The Finance Committee was asked to subpoena or invite the law department, DPI, and other relevant offices to explain collection processes and the reasons collection rates fall short of budget assumptions.