PRESENTER: Presenter
Ruth Sandoval, Municipal Court Administrator
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SUBJECT: Title
Approval of contract spend with McCreary, Veslka, Bragg & Allen P.C. for support of case resolutions and delinquent account collections.
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DEPARTMENT: Municipal Court Administrator
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COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: [Enter Text Here]
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Per section 9.17 of the City Charter, City Council approval is required for annual spend on a contract that is greater than $50,000. Staff are asking for approval to pay MVBA for case collections an estimated $80,000 - $100,000 per year for the next three years which will be covered through defendants outstanding fines.
The City issued a contract with McCreary, Veslka, Bragg & Allen P.C. (MVBA) June 2024 for support of case resolutions and delinquent account collections on behalf of the City’s Municipal Court. The contract has been operating well, and collections have been successful. This term (June 2025-2026) the cost for collections is expected to exceed $80,000 and will continue to increase as more stale cases are collected. MVBA collects on revenue for fines and court costs. Article103.0031 of the Code of Criminal Procedure permits a thirty percent (30%) of the total amount due the court to be added to the defendant's case by the court. The fee sequence is set to allocate the collection fee after State fees and Court costs. This ensures that the collection fees, MVBA’s fee, is applied after all other mandatory fees have been allocated and no direct cost is incurred by the City.
ISSUE:
Municipal Court has outstanding cases that need to be brought into compliance with the collection of fines and court costs. This contract will provide a third party to collect these fines on behalf of the city.
STRATEGIC PLAN REFERENCE:
☐Economic Mobility ☐Enhanced Connectivity ☐Community Identity
☐Organizational Excellence ☐Community Well-Being ☐N/A
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FISCAL IMPACT:
The fees paid to MVBA are based only on what is collected from the defendants outstanding fines. The City will not incur additional costs, therefore there are sufficient funds to support this contract.
Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION:
Approval of contact spend with McCreary, Veslka, Bragg & Allen P.C. for support of case resolutions and delinquent account collections.