Jersey City is hiring debt collector to go after municipal court scofflaws

August 18, 2012, 3:02 AM
By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

Faced with decreasing revenue and rising costs, Jersey City is taking a page from other municipalities nationwide by seeking a debt-collection service to round up cash owed to its Municipal Court.

The City Council on Wednesday is scheduled to vote on a measure that would hire Milwaukee, Wis., firm Duncan Solutions to collect delinquent debt from defendants who owe money because of guilty pleas. Duncan is one of 14 firms that answered the city?s request for proposals.

The firm would be paid from the fees it collects, so no taxpayer money is involved in the five-year contract the council is set to approve.

New Jersey municipalities were given the go-ahead to use debt collectors to gather unpaid fines by a 2011 state Supreme Court rule. Bridgeton was the first city permitted to collect fines via a debt collector.

Matthew Weng, attorney for the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said the lobbying group is ?very happy? municipalities now have the option of using an outside debt collector. With a 2 percent tax-levy cap, towns and cities are struggling to come up with cash, and are too understaffed to do it on their own, Weng said.

?There?s a lot of money out there in uncollected court debt, and it?s money that?s legitimately owed by these individuals, who for whatever reason have decided not to pay,? he said.

The Jersey City Municipal Court brought in $9.9 million in fines last year, and this year expects to rake in $12.7 million.

The council meets for its regular meeting on Wednesday at City Hall, 280 Grove St., starting at 6 p.m.

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