Section
5.181 Referral of Receivables to Director of Finance or Collection Agency.
5.182 Submission of Findings to Collections Board of Review.
5.183 Obligations Amounting to $5,000.00 or More.
5.184 Procedure When the Collections Board of Review Does Not Unanimously Approve Findings.
5.185 Action Shall Not Preclude City from Collecting.
5.186 Factoring of Receivables.
(a) All City departments and offices, except the Department of Airports, Harbor and Water and Power, (Offices or Departments) shall process delinquent accounts receivable as provided in this section. The Offices or Departments shall refer all delinquent accounts receivable, and all obligations and claims owing to the City, in excess of $5,000 each that have not been paid in full within 45 days of delinquency to the Director of Finance who shall undertake whatever reasonable efforts, if any, the Director deems appropriate to effectuate collection of those items, including Small Claims Court actions. Thereafter, the Director may refer delinquent accounts receivable to the City Attorney for whatever action the City Attorney deems appropriate or return the accounts to the originating Offices or Departments for processing in accordance with provisions of this Code or the Los Angeles Municipal Code regarding uncollectible accounts receivable. Offices or Departments shall refer all delinquent accounts receivable and all obligations and claims owing to the City, in the amount of $5,000 or less each that have not been paid in full within 45 days of delinquency either to the Director of Finance or to a collection agency selected by the City Council for those purposes, in accord with guidelines developed by the Director for the collection of outstanding receivables. If delinquent accounts receivable are referred to the Director, the Director shall undertake whatever reasonable efforts, if any, the Director deems appropriate to effectuate collection of those items, including Small Claims Court actions. Thereafter, the Director may refer delinquent accounts receivable to the City Attorney for whatever action the City Attorney deems appropriate or return the accounts to the originating Offices or Departments for processing in accordance with provisions of this Code or the Los Angeles Municipal Code regarding uncollectible accounts receivable. If delinquent accounts receivable are referred to a collection agency, the collection agency shall undertake whatever reasonable efforts, if any, the collection agency deems appropriate, in accordance with the terms and conditions of its contract with the City, to effectuate collection of those items. Thereafter, the collection agency shall return the accounts to the originating Offices or Departments, which may refer them to the Director of Finance for handling as set forth above or process them in accordance with provisions of this Code or the Los Angeles Municipal Code regarding uncollectible accounts receivable, all in accordance with guidelines developed by the Director for the collection of outstanding receivables. Unless otherwise established by ordinance, rule, regulation or resolution, the City shall deem an account to be delinquent if not paid within 30 days of billing. In the case of City administered tax accounts, referral as set forth in this section shall occur at the time reasonable field collection efforts have failed or within 45 days following completion of administrative proceedings for accounts subject to the provisions of Section 21.16 of Chapter 2, Article 1 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code. In the case of emergency ambulance service accounts, referral as set forth in this section shall occur at the time reasonable collection efforts have failed but not later than 9 months from the date of initial billing.
(b) The provisions of this section shall not repeal, supersede or otherwise affect any other provision or procedure established by any section of this Code or by any ordinance, rule, regulation or resolution of the City or its departments, boards or commissions for the handling or collection of accounts receivable or claims by the boards, bureaus, commissions or departments of the City. However, if after the authorized Offices’ or Departments’ procedures have been exhausted, an account is still delinquent, then the account shall be referred as set forth in this section within 45 days following completion of the procedure.
(c) Persons indebted to the City of Los Angeles for delinquent accounts or any obligations owing to the City, upon referral to the Director of the Office of Finance or to a collection agency in accordance with Subsection (a) of this Section, shall be liable for the underlying obligation and all costs incurred by the City to effectuate collection of those items, including collection agency fees, to the extent allowed by State and Federal laws.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Ord. No. 150,766, Eff. 5-20-78.
Amended by: Ord. No. 163,642, Eff. 7-1-88; Ord. No. 167,979, Eff. 7-16-92; Ord. No.169,250, Eff. 1-21-94; Ord. No. 174,618, Eff. 7-12-02; In Entirety, Ord. No. 175,396, Eff. 9-21-03; Subsec. (c) added, Ord. No. 177,469, Eff. 5-28-06; Subsec. (a), Ord. No. 179,496, Eff. 2-7-08; Title and Subsecs. (a) and (c), Ord. No. 180,644, Eff. 5-29-09; Subsec. (a), Ord. No. 180,909, Eff. 11-20-09.
If any board, commission, or head of any department finds that any money is due, or believed to be due the City for fees for permits, or resulting from the issuance of any permit or as the result of the contemplated issuance of a permit, or resulting from any services performed by the City at the special instance and request of the debtor, or resulting from any act of the debtor, and is uncollectible, or that efforts to collect any sum would be disproportionately costly in relation to the probable outcome of the collection efforts, the board, commission, or head of a department, shall prepare a report setting forth the findings and submit the findings and reasons to a Collections Board of Review. The report from each board, commission, or head of any department shall be prepared and submitted to the Collections Board of Review no less than semi-annually.
To aid in the collection of accounts receivable and the write-off of uncollectible accounts, each department with accounts receivable shall maintain a listing of all its accounts receivable arranged by age of the account. Information on the age, type of account and other information, as required by the protocols and procedures adopted by the Collections Board of Review, of the uncollectible account will be included in the findings submitted to the Collections Board of Review for each account included in the report.
The Collections Board of Review shall consist of the Controller, the Director of Finance, and the City Administrative Officer, or the duly appointed representative of each. The Controller shall be the Chair and shall be responsible for establishing and publicizing a regular meeting schedule to all City departments, developing a standard reporting format, and for notifying the respective department of the Board’s decision as to each report of uncollectible accounts. The Collections Board of Review shall convene at least quarterly unless there are no reports from City departments to be considered.
Upon unanimous approval of the findings by the Collections Board of Review, the board, commission or head of the department concerned, is authorized to remove from the active accounts receivable of that board, commission or department, any unpaid sum owing, or believed to be owing, to the City from any person, when the amount involved is less than the sum of $5,000.00. If unanimously approved by the Collections Board of Review, the effective date when an individual account is removed from active status shall be the Board’s approval date, unless the Collections Board of Review chose a different removal date in order to accommodate request(s) for additional information or contingency approvals.
SECTION HISTORY
Based on Ord. No. 107,216.
Amended by: Ord. No. 169,250, Eff. 1-21-94; Ord. No. 175,944, Eff. 6-12-04; Last Para., Ord. No. 180,910, Eff. 11-20-09; Title and Section, Ord. No. 182,633, Eff. 8-25-13.
If the report relates to an obligation or claim owing, or believed to be owing, to the City, that amounts to $5,000.00 or more, the Collections Board of Review shall make its recommendations upon the findings, and if the Collections Board of Review unanimously approved the findings it shall submit them to the Council together with the findings of the board, commission, or head of a department.
SECTION HISTORY
Based on Ord. No. 107,216.
Amended by: Ord. No. 169,250, Eff. 1-21-94; Title and Section, Ord. No. 180,910, Eff. 11-20-09; Ord. No. 182,633, Eff. 8-25-13.
If the Collections Board of Review does not unanimously approve the findings, the matter shall be returned to the board, commission, or head of the department. The board, commission, or head of the department shall submit its report to the Council together with the findings of the Collections Board of Review. The Council will then consider removal of the active accounts and make a final determination of the matter.
SECTION HISTORY
Based on Ord. No. 107,216.
Amended by: Ord. No. 175,944, Eff. 6-12-04; Title and Section, Ord. No. 182,633, Eff. 8-25-13.
The removal from the active accounts receivable of any board, commission, or head of a department of any unpaid obligation as hereinabove provided, shall not preclude the City from collecting or attempting to collect any such sum that later proves to be collectible. Should any such sum so owing to the City not be collected within the period of the Statute of Limitations of the State of California, and applicable to any such obligation, then the board, commission, or head of a department may write off and cancel said obligation.
The provisions of this section shall not repeal, supersede, or otherwise affect any other provision or procedure established by any section of this code or by any ordinance of the City for the handling or removal of uncollectible accounts by any board, bureau or commission of the City.
SECTION HISTORY
Based on Ord. No. 107,216.
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