District of Squamish has hired a collection agency to collect unpaid bylaw fines of $136,000.
The outstanding bylaw fines are for last two years from June 2020 to May 2022. The bylaw fines can only be collected within two years of the fine being issued. An unpaid fine longer than two years is lost revenue for the District.
At the July 26 Committee of the Whole meeting, District officials told Council they had hired General Credit Services Inc. to provide collection services. Frank Rawlings, the Manager of Bylaw Enforcement and Animal Control, told Council the bylaw department’s approach to collections was voluntary compliance.
However, when voluntary compliance is not achieved, the District will go the collections route.
The agency hired by the District, General Credit Services Inc., delivers collection service on a “no collect, no fee” basis. This means that it only charges fees against the dollars it successfully recovers.
The collection agency will charge 10.5% commission rate on behalf of the District plus applicable taxes. However, before any particular case goes to collection, the District will continue to perform its internal collection process which is focused on voluntary compliance.
If the ticket is not paid within 14 days or the fine not disputed, the District will charge a 10 per cent late fees to the ticket. If the fine is not paid in full, collection proceedings can start.
