Okaloosa County BOCC — September 1, 2015 — Write Off of Accounts - Deemed Uncollectible — agenda request

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: September 1, 2015 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Jeff Littrell SUBJECT: Write Off of Accounts - Deemed Uncollectible DEPARTMENT: Water and Sewer BCC DISTRICT: ALL STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Okaloosa County Water & Sewer (OCWS) staff requests the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) approval for the annual write off of accounts deemed uncollectible. BACKGROUND: The employees of OCWS have worked diligently at collecting past due final bills. However, there comes a time each year when we must adjust the accounts to reflect estimated "uncollectibles". The past policy of the County is to write off the accounts that are past due more than twelve months, which in this instance is through September 30, 2013. The attempt to collect by the water and sewer department is an ongoing process. The Collection Bureau of Fort Walton Beach, Inc. has been contracted to assist in the collection of terminated accounts 60 days past due. The attached letter from Jodi Gates, Financial Services Manager for the Clerk of Circuit Court, addresses the past policy of the BCC. As stated in her letter, the current balance of accounts receivable to be written off for FY2013 as of September 30, 2014 was $191,587.69. The updated amount after further collections since September 30, 2013 is $179,149.22 (See attached report). The write-off will represent approximately 80% of water and sewer fees and approximately 20% will represent third party payments collected by water and sewer. Therefore, for FY2013 the actual write-off for water and sewer will be approximately $144,280.00 and the third party payments will be approximately $34,869.22. The FY2013 operating revenue budget exceeded $26 million dollars. Therefore, the total estimated uncollectible amount is equal to 0.69% of the annual operating budgeted revenue. OPTIONS: Approve or deny. RECOMMENDATIONS: OCWS staff recommend that the Board of County Commissioners authorize the write off of delinquent accounts in the amount of $179,149.22. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: John Hofstad, County Administrator