Controller outlines state debt collection performance, NCIS limits and push for modernization

The Nevada State Controller’s Office told a joint legislative budget committee that state debt collections have recovered to pre‑pandemic levels but that a persistent volume of long‑aged receivables and limitations in the Nevada Collections Information System (NCIS) are constraining recoveries.

Chief Deputy Comptroller James Smack told the committee that NCIS, implemented in fiscal 2017, helped lift collections from the Excel era to roughly $1.5 million to $2 million per year. The office listed collections of $1,586,000 in fiscal 2023 and $1,413,000 in fiscal 2024 as examples. Smack said about one‑third of collections come from in‑house activity and two‑thirds from contracted collection agencies.

Smack described the state’s receivable picture as uneven: he said statewide total receivables declined in the controller’s published tables from about $1.7 billion in fiscal 2023 to about $1.15 billion in fiscal 2024, and noted that the controller’s office had $119,520,449.79 in receivables in its collection inventory (the presentation cited a current age receivables table “as of 12/2025”). He said nearly $19 million of that inventory is more than 10 years old and is likely to be a near‑term write‑off candidate.

The controller said the office received a one‑shot appropriation in the last budget for a technology upgrade but that the vendor quotes exceeded that one‑shot by roughly three times. The office asked for a larger one‑shot appropriation in the current budget cycle, but the governor’s recommended budget did not include it. Smack said the controller is exploring alternative options to modernize NCIS and align it with the statewide core motor vehicle (Core MV) system.

Smack said timeliness of agency referrals is a major operational issue: when agencies provide debt promptly (within the 60‑day window prescribed in statute), collection success rates increase substantially. He said some agencies have been cooperative in meeting the 60‑day referral requirement and others have not; the controller described internal suggestions — brought to the committee as constituent input — such as budgetary holdbacks or minimum allowances for bad debt as possible legislative changes to improve compliance. He also described operational benefits of automating the referral process so debts move to the controller 60–90 days after origination.

Committee members asked whether some agencies (including the Division of Forestry) had submitted outstanding accounts; Smack said he would research specific agency referrals and that in some cases large balances had not been placed with the controller. The controller’s office said federal receivables were not known to be part of its collectible inventory, but staff said they would confirm.

Smack concluded that a modernization that gets debts to the controller earlier would materially increase collections, saying older debts lose collectability over time.