Expert Panel: Government Collections will Continue to Grow

At a teleseminar held yesterday by Kaulkin Ginsberg, a panel of experts on government collections treated an audience of 75 callers to a detailed overview of the current state of government collections and the methods collection agencies and law firms use to not only collect for governments, but win their business in the first place.

The call featured six participants with roles in municipal government accounts receivable management.  In an interesting arrangement, three officials from major cities – Denver, Seattle, and Washington, DC – were introduced with companies that provide outsourced receivables services for each municipality.

Donna Brunner, Director of Budget/New Development, King County (Seattle) District Court, explained the benefits of outsourcing the accounts receivable and collection functions to private collectors.   Brunner noted that justice systems have more important duties than receivables, and that the cost of keeping full time employees on staff is far more than the costs associated with contracting with outside help.  Bruce Moore, Tax Collections Manager for the City and County of Denver, backed up Brunner’s reasoning and pointed out that many of the accounts that go into default are small-dollar accounts that require a specialist collection approach, one that can be provided more efficiently by collection agencies.

Roselyn Lewis, Supervisory Revenue Officer for the Office of Tax & Revenue for the Government of the District of Columbia, explained that her government entity is unique in that it collects taxes and fees that are common to both municipalities and states.  DC has used collection agencies to help bring in revenue since 2000.

Randy Johannes, a Partner in the Colorado office of government collection law firm Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, noted that one of the first things his company looks at when partnering with municipalities on collections is the IT infrastructure of the organization.  Because each municipality approaches IT slightly differently, his firm has to make sure the data flowing from the government offices aligns with the format Linebarger uses in-house, and if it doesn’t, they must weigh the benefits of converting that data for the account.  Linebarger collects for the City and County of Denver.