Collecting fees just makes sense

It may be the ultimate “no brainer.”
With county government trying to stretch revenues to meet expenses — including some pay increases that may have exceeded the county’s pocketbook — doesn’t it make sense to go after uncollected court fees?
Jay County clerk Ellen Coats has told the county council that there’s nearly $4 million in court fees that are owed to the county and haven’t been paid.
That’s not chicken feed.
It’s a significant amount of cash for county government, even if only a fraction is successfully collected.
That’s what council member Gary Theurer was focusing on last week. Theurer, a former county commissioner, urged the county to look into hiring a collection agency to capture some of that lost revenue.
“I know you can’t collect it all, but at least have them look into seeing if there’s a collection agency or lawyers or someone interested in going after some of it,” Theurer said last week.
That makes sense.
But who makes the decision to go after the delinquents? Is that the clerk’s decision? Or is it, more likely, something that the county commissioners need to set in motion?
County council, as the fiscal body, is in a position to recognize the problem but not necessarily to address it. As the county’s executive body, the commissioners are probably the folks to make the decision. Then again, these are court fees. Does that authority rest with the circuit and superior courts?
We’ll leave the legal question up to the lawyers.
But we do know this: Jay County government needs all the revenue it can get without raising taxes, the county’s courts are owed nearly $4 million and it’s time someone made the effort to collect. — J.R.