Explanation
Background:
This legislation will authorize the appropriation of $88,000 from the Bad Checks Fund. This fund is generated by fees collected by the City Attorney's Bad Checks Diversion Program and used to pay the annual salary of the Bad Checks Program Coordinator and for the services of various professional facilitators.
The Bad Checks Program is designed to reduce the number of bad check cases that backlog the court and to help local merchants recover the money they are owed. Facilitators work directly with the merchant and the check writer to resolve the matter and therefore keep the case out of the court system.
In 2011 approximately 6,373 cases were diverted from the court system and approximately $299,344.00 was recovered for the merchants.
Fiscal Impact: The Bad Checks Diversion Program is entirely funded from collected fees. The current cash balance of the fund as of 12/31/11 was $46,961.55.
Title
To authorize the appropriation of Eighty-eight Thousand Dollars from the fees collected by the City Attorney's Bad Checks Diversion Program for the purpose of funding said program and to declare an emergency. ($88,000.00)
Body
WHEREAS, administrative fees are imposed and collected by the City Attorney's Office for participation in the Bad Checks Diversion Program, and
WHEREAS, the cost of this program is solely supported by the fees collected, and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the City Attorney's Office in that it is necessary to immediately authorize the appropriation of these collected fees for the continuance of the program and for the preservation of public health, peace, property, safety and welfare, and now therefore,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS, OHIO:
SECTION 1. That the City Auditor is hereby authorized and directed to appropriate Eight-eight Thousand Dollars ($88,000.00) from the Special Purposes Fund as follows: City Attorney's Office, department 24-01, Bad Che...
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