New Port Richey City Council unanimously approved a program Tuesday to pursue outstanding debts from code enforcement, water/sewer, and road assessments. Debts that have been outstanding for longer than six months will be subject to the program.
The program will initially offer amnesty settlements to residents with outstanding fines who come forward to pay the balances. Part of the amnesty will include reducing the debts to the original fines plus ten to 20 percent. If the debt remains unpaid, the full balance will be turned over to collections agencies where it can be reported to credit agencies, affecting property owners’ credit ratings.
The debts come primarily from code enforcement violations which have resulted in liens on delinquent properties. The city currently has $1.4 million in outstanding fees, of which more than $851,000 is code enforcement related. Another $229,000 comes from unpaid street assessments. Finance Director Peter Altman said that some of the debts are nearly eight years old.
Not sure why the matter had to wait 8 years for this decision, but I sure do wish the city luck and hope it can recoup some of that money and not end up in some sort of unexpected mess that costs more in the long run.
When your city’s residential property is more than 50% rental, those absentee landlords don’t much care. Hopefully this program gets their attention.
Marilynn deChant