NJ City Seeks Private Firm to Collect Court Fines

Another southern New Jersey city may hire a private company to collect outstanding municipal court fines.
 
Millville commissioners recently approved plans to seek proposals from companies who could help the city recover nearly $1.6 million that's owed in delinquent fines and fees.
 
City officials tell The Daily Journal of Vineland that they're hoping to sign a one-year deal that would start sometime this year. If a contract is awarded, the private firm would receive a specific percentage of the amount it collects.
 
State officials also would have to approve the deal before it could take effect.
 
“It's money that's owed to us,” Commissioner David Vanaman told the newspaper. “We need to get a little more aggressive (in collecting it).”
 
Millville officials say they have spoken with city leaders in nearby Bridgeton, another Cumberland County community which recently became the first New Jersey municipality to win approval for a collections deal. It's agreement with a private Wisconsin-based company calls for the firm to get 22 cents of every dollar collected.
 
“I would have liked to wait and see how successful they are,” Vanaman said about Bridgeton's program. “But we're getting quite a bit behind in our collections.”