Collection agency targets parking ticket scofflaws in Island Lake

A collection agency will pursue scofflaws who haven’t paid fines on long-overdue parking tickets written in Island Lake.

The village board Thursday night voted to hire an Ohio firm called TekCollect to go after drivers who collectively received 250 tickets issued in recent years. The firm typically takes on 250 cases at a time, officials said.

The decision came five months after a representative from TekCollect publicly met with village leaders about the proposal. At the time, the representative guaranteed the village would recoup $10,000 in overdue revenue from outstanding tickets on the Island Lake police department’s books, some of which date back to 1990.

TekCollect will call the motorists and write letters on the village’s behalf. It will assess a $10 fee to each ticket in addition to the fine charged when the ticket was written.

That extra $10 will be paid by the driver, not the village, and will go to the collection agency.

The village will pay TekCollect a $1,250 upfront fee to get the job started.

If the company doesn’t collect at least that much in revenue for the village in one year, it will reimburse the difference to the village, officials said Thursday.

“There will not be a cost for us out of pocket,” said Trustee Thea Moris, one of the four trustees who voted to approve the contact.

Trustees Laurie Rabattini and Donna O’Malley opposed the proposal. O’Malley repeated objections she voiced during the original discussions.

“I have a problem putting out money to collect money,” she said.

If the service is a success, the board can hire TekCollect to go after more drivers who haven’t paid tickets, Morris said.