County will collect fees

After some discussion with the county commissioners about how far back to go, county clerk Ellen Coats said she would pass along information about unpaid court costs to a collection agency.
At a Monday meeting, commissioner Faron Parr, after wondering how many years of fees to pursue, said it was important to “at least go forward, starting now” with enforcing collection.
But the statute of limitations would allow the county to attempt collecting the past 10 years worth of fees.
“I think we should go back,” county attorney Bill Hinkle said. “That’s what we did on the support docket fees.”
Hinkle was referring to administrative fees related to child support, which the county has been using Pioneer Credit Recovery to collect.
In court costs, Jay County is owed $661,136.61 from 2006 to 2014 — $418,310.67 in superior court and $242,825.94 in circuit court.
Coats will send information about the costs to Pioneer, which takes a 30 percent fee out of what it collects.
Coats mentioned the uncollected costs to county council by Coats in September during discussions about the 2016 budget. In December, council member Gary Theurer requested the commissioners see what could be done about them.
In other business, commissioners Doug Inman and Parr, absent Jim Zimmerman:
•Made the following reappointments: Joe Sommers and Don Denney, Jay County Regional Sewer District; Jane Ann Spencer and Mike Leonhard, Jay County Cemetery Association; Sue Waples and Sandy Crouch, Jay County Visitors and Tourism Bureau board of directors; and Jim Bruner, Public Defender Board.
•Acting as the county drainage board, heard from county surveyor Brad Daniels about which ditch assessments crossing county lines will be paid this year: Wells County, Loblolly; Randolph County, Dale Marsh, Ross and Days Creek, John Thornburg, Halfway, Hotmire Redmond and Hannah Rinker; Jay County, Switzer, Darst, Carder Creek, Harris Braner, W. S. Manor, L. Miller, McFarland, Shook Maint, Wagner and McClain; Blackford County, Brooks Creek.
Other cross-county ditches won’t be assessed because their funds have at least four times the amount of money used annually to maintain them.
“There’s no reason just to collect just because we can when the money’s just going to sit,” Daniels said.
•Decided to wait until spring to convert two intersections on county road 200 South to four-way stops. In warmer weather, the county will have an easier time putting in rumble strips to alert drivers to the change.
County road 200 South’s intersections with Boundary Pike and 200 West will become four-way stops.
After Zimmerman arrived, the commissioners:
•Decided to renew the county’s property, liability and workers’ compensation insurance through Bixler Insurance. They sought additional quotes, but received only a full quote from Bixler and a quote on some aspects from Inman Insurance.
•Heard a complaint from Terry Robbins of Portland about the cost of dumping items at Jay County Landfill. He told the commissioners he paid $67 to leave a load of unwanted items over the weekend, which he felt was “ridiculous.”
“You’re going to end up with garbage along the roads out there when people get tired of paying,” Robbins said.
Parr told Robbins the landfill takes waste for free twice a year. Zimmerman invited him to the next Jay County Solid Waste District meeting Jan. 25.