Island Lake pursuing more delinquent tickets

The firm pursuing delinquent tickets in Island Lake has been so successful collecting overdue money, the village board is supplying the names of more scofflaws to track down.

Thanks to the work of Ohio-based TekCollect, fines totaling $3,145 have been added to the village coffers, officials said. After paying fees to the firm, the village has netted $645, officials said.

“I think TekCollect is delivering exactly what they said they would, and I am very happy with the results,” Trustee Connie Mascillino said in an email.

TekCollect was given an initial batch of 250 overdue tickets in July. The firm got a second batch of 250 tickets in October. The tickets involve parking and other local-ordinance violations.

Of the first group of tickets, the firm successfully collected 35 payments, a return of 14 percent, village Finance Director John Little said.

For those first two batches, the village paid the company $2,500 for its work. A $10 fee TekCollect adds to each ticket returns some of that money to the village.

At their meeting Thursday night, trustees agreed to give 500 additional uncollected tickets to TekCollect.

TekCollect will be paid $2,500 to go after the drivers responsible for the latest tickets, Little said.

Little said it’s too soon to say whether the collection program has been a financial success for the town.

“The goal for the village was simply to collect on the outstanding tickets,” he said.

Mascillino was more enthusiastic about the program.

“Whatever they collect from the tickets is more than we had before, and it all adds up to a lot more than nothing,” she said.

In January, Police Chief William McCorkle announced he’d discovered more than 3,173 unpaid village tickets, some dating back to 1990. The money owed totaled more than $200,000, officials said.

The board first discussed hiring TekCollect in February, but the proposal landed in limbo after some trustees questioned the plan.

The deal with the firm was resurrected and approved after the spring election changed the makeup of the board.

The collection program accomplishes two tasks, Trustee Shannon Fox said.

“It adds revenue owed to the municipality, which aids our bottom line, and it gives teeth to showing that it is important to follow the rules while in our town,” she said.

Fox believes the collection effort might also inspire people who get new tickets to pay fines on time.

“One might think better than to toss an Island Lake parking ticket in the garbage,” she said. “The laws are there for a reason ... and need to be followed.”