But somehow, bill collection doesn't hit the radar screen. You aren't worried about it. You don't even have a clue about how many debts have gone unpaid. Now, Imagine how quickly your shareholders would storm your office and toss your backside onto the sidewalk. Unfortunately, local governments such as Los Angeles County's do not face such righteous and immediate ire.
Departments putter along with a fiscal mentality that can only be described as cavalier.
Officials talk about the Big Picture and apparently dismiss debt collection as something that's beneath their station. Then, come budget time, the department heads wail and offer worst-case scenarios about services they will have to cut if finances are to tighten. Here's another relevant tidbit. The county's treasurer- tax collector has just eight people making collections and the department has been under a hiring freeze for 10 years. This is the-point where you ponder how those multiple millions, if collected, could have been spent.