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Council seeks quarterly reports after committee hears collection shortfalls and new contractor plans
Summary
Council members pressed staff on low collection rates for housing-related fines and fees and asked for quarterly reporting after treasury officials described moving files to a new collection contractor, registration-suspension enforcement and legal avenues such as judgments, tax-bill attachment and in rem procedures.
The Committee on Finance debated a resolution requesting reports and testimony on fines, fees and collections on Oct. 7, 2025, after members described low collection returns on housing and code-enforcement fines and asked what city officials are doing to recover outstanding amounts.
Council members said media reporting indicated about $7 million in fines and fees had been issued but only about 8 percent of that amount was collected under previous collection arrangements. Council members said they wanted aggressive action to hold property owners and repeat offenders accountable and to recover funds needed for city services.
Mike Seaman, director of treasury and collections, described a transition from the prior collections contractor (Mercantile, which the transcript indicated was…
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