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Finance director details HDL collections work, credit balance and reporting cadence
Summary
Finance Director Laurie told the Charles Town finance committee that HDL, the city's collections contractor for delinquent business licenses, provided an initial credit after the city capped retroactive late fees; staff is tracking a remaining credit balance and runs monthly reconciliations.
Finance Director Laurie gave the committee an update on the city's contract with HDL, the collections firm the city uses to pursue delinquent business-license accounts. She said HDL was engaged to identify businesses that had not previously paid and that the city later limited retroactive late fees after council action because uncapped fees produced disproportionately large bills.
Laurie said HDL provided an upfront credit (recorded in the report as $16,250) after the ordinance change. The report shows a beginning credit balance of $49,750; Laurie said subsequent collections are reduced against that balance at a 15% credit rate per month on the collections the city receives, and staff is tracking the monthly reductions. Laurie reported a recent invoice application of about $3,300 and a remaining credit-balance figure reported in the packet at roughly $30,007; she said staff and HDL reconcile this work through the contractor's website and a city worksheet.
Committee members asked how many businesses HDL is working on and how staff will provide that list; Laurie and staff said HDL produced a large set of newly identified businesses (staff estimated the number of businesses HDL is pursuing could be in the hundreds, with one speaker estimating nearly 1,000). Staff said city users maintain logins to HDL's portal and receive monthly reports; committee members asked staff to provide a consolidated list and monthly cadence for committee review.
A committee member summarized the arrangement as: HDL will continue pursuing previously uncollected businesses, the city receives collections less the contractual share, and the upfront credit is being reduced monthly as collections occur. Committee members requested the contract and memorandum of understanding be made available to interested committee members and for staff to provide the five-year trend of affected accounts and revenue sources in a future meeting.
