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Council directs collections for delinquent business licenses after staff outreach
Summary
City staff reported a list of delinquent business licenses and described outreach (five emails, two mailed notices and about 170 phone calls). Council voted to proceed with turning accounts over to a collection agency and to pursue additional fines; staff said collection agencies recover roughly 75% of amounts collected.
City staff member Kate presented the annual delinquent business-license report, noting one recent payment (RE/MAX) and a list of other delinquent accounts. "This is our 1st year on our new business license system that we implemented in the fall," Kate said, describing outreach that included five emails, two mailed notices and attempts to contact more than 170 business owners by phone.
Kate told the council the city's standard options are referral to a collection agency, sending a code enforcement officer to business locations, or imposing penalties up to $500 per day for noncompliance with city code. She said the city had previously sent delinquent accounts to collection but that the collection agencies tend to recover a portion of balances; "So we recover 75% of anything that they collect on their behalf," Kate said.
Council members discussed verifying email addresses and contacting owners directly; one member suggested splitting outreach responsibilities among council members to make calls to key businesses. After discussion, a motion to proceed with collections, including additional fines, carried on a roll-call vote. The motion passed unanimously.
