Centralized Collections

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Centralized CollectionsBruce Robert, Chief of Collections

San Bernardino County

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Centralized Collections vs. Stand Alone Units

Discussion Topics

• Considerations for Centralization• Comparison of Centralized vs. Stand Alone

• Establishing Centralized Collections• Model for Centralized Collections

• Questions and Answers

Note: Topics are presented from a county perspective, although concepts can relate to city, state or federal level.

Considerations for Centralization

• Participating Agencies

• Political Issues

• Funding

• Staffing

• Technology

• Level of Expertise

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Participating Agencies

Typical Agencies Include:

• Courts– Criminal Cases

– Traffic Infractions

– Juvenile Cases

• County Medical Center

• Unsecured Property Taxes

• Variety of smaller departments

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Political Issues

• CAO Support

• If you centralize, where will you go?

– Treasurer-Tax Collector

– Auditor Controller

– Stand-alone Department

• Do separate collection units exist?

• Resistance to centralization

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Funding

• Current Funding• Continuation of current funding• Sources of Funding

– Local Cost– General Administrative Budget– Commission– Collection Fee– Fee Based – Cost Offset (PC 1463.007)– Grants

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Staffing

• Current available staffing

• Will new agencies participate?

• Impact on current staffing

• Ability to add additional staff

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Technology

• What technology is available?

• What are the future requirements?

• Will you have sufficient IT budget?

• Will you have sufficient support staff?

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Level of Expertise

• Management’s level of expertise

• Subject matter experts

• Required training

• Current policies and procedures

Comparison of Centralized Collections vs.

Stand Alone Units

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Comparison

Centralized Collections• Centralized Management• Standards – more

consistency• Shared resources – more

cost effective• Harder to manage

knowledge transfer – more topics among more people

• Centralized technology – easier to manage – more cost effective

Stand Alone Units• Segregated Management• Lack of standards – less

consistency• Segregated resources –

less cost effective• Easier to manage

knowledge – fewer topics among fewer people

• Segregated technology – more complicated – less cost effective

Establishing Centralized Collections

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• Gain support for concept

• Determine where to place organization

• Establish scope – mandatory/elective participation

by departments

• Develop client list

• Determine resources

• Establish funding sources

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• Determine rates for commission/fees

• Determine start up costs

• Establish budget

• Determine staffing level

• Sufficient subject matter experts

• Decision: Consolidated work force vs. separate

business units

Model for Centralized Collections

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• Court Collections

• Medical Center


• Various Smaller Agencies

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Original Organization

Three Stand Alone Units:

• Collections Division (Medical)

• Probation Accounting (Court)

• Treasurer-Tax Collector (Unsecured)

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Centralization:

• Grand Jury Report recommendation

• CAO supported concept

• Creation of Central Collections

• Departments merged under Treasurer-Tax

Collector

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History:

• Collections Division and Probation

Accounting Merged

• Maintained Separate Business Units

• Added Unsecured Property Tax Division

• Added Traffic Infraction Unit

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Staff is divided by business units

• Medical Center

• Adult Misdemeanors/Felonies

• Juvenile Cases

• Traffic Infractions


• Various Smaller Clients

• Legal

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Org Chart for San Bernardino County Collections

Treasurer/Tax Collector

Asst Treasurer/Tax Collector

Chief of Collections

Chief Supervising Collections Officer

Collection Spvr (2) Collection Spvr (1) Collection Spvr (1) Collection Spvr (1) Collection Spvr (1)

Medical (19) Adult Court (9) Juvenile (4) Traffic (10) Unsecured (6) Legal (7)

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Funding

• Operate with No Local Cost

• Blend of Funding Sources

• Courts: Cost Offset (PC 1463.007)

• Medical: Cost Plus Commission

• Unsecured: Collection Fee per Account

• Smaller Clients: Commission

• More Difficult Collections: Fee Based

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Each unit has their own goals:

• Monthly Collection Quota

• Daily # of accounts worked

• Daily # of phone calls

• Monthly # of legal referrals

• Monthly # of payment plans set

This varies from unit to unit.

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Statistics Tracked by Business Units

• Monthly Collections

• Cost of Collections

• Recovery Rates

• Total Outstanding Accounts Receivable

We have annual targets for each unit.

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Separate Business Units• Greater level of expertise -

Less overall knowledge• Less training required• Fewer staff under privacy

regulations• More difficult to manage

customer service (fewer staff members to handle calls)

• Easier to track costs• Easier to shift effort to a

particular client

Consolidated Work Force• Greater level of overall

knowledge – less expertise• More training required• All staff subject to privacy

regulations• Easier to manage customer

service (all staff can handle all account types)

• More difficult to track costs• Hard to shift a concentrated

effort on a particular client

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• Separate business units is preferred– Easier to track costs

– Easier to develop knowledgeable staff

– Can ramp up efforts for a particular client easily

– Able to set standards for each unit based on level of effort to collect

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Practical Day-To-Day Issues(Each is Business Unit Specific)

• Work Lists: Each collector has a specific workload

• Letters: Have over 500 letters

• Action Codes: Collectors use codes for account

follow up

• Legal Referrals: Dedicated legal collectors for

each business unit

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Practical Day-To-Day Issues (cont’d)

• Receivables Management: Procedures to deal

with aging receivables

• Statistics: Tracked by business unit

• Shared Resources: Most are shared with a few

business specific resources

Questions?

Thank You!

Contact Information:

Bruce RobertChief of Collections

San Bernardino County(909) 387-5616

[email protected]

Centralized Collections

Documents

Transcript of Centralized Collections