Marthasville city officials are considering contracting with a collection agency to help collect delinquent payments owed to the city. During last Tuesday's board of aldermen meeting, Karen Skornia of Regional Credit Services made a presentation to the board. The company is based in Washington. Aldermen said previously they wanted to see a much stricter approach when dealing with unpaid bills. In the past several months, the city was owed between $4,354.59 to $12,000 in monthly late payments from water and sewer customers. Should the city decide to use Skornia's services, the city would receive 70 percent of the amount collected by the company. The remaining 30 percent would be Skornia's fee. She noted there are no other fees. "If we don't collect, we don't get paid," she said. Skornia has owned and operated Regional Credit Services since 1996. Many governmental entities contract with Skornia, including the Marthasville Ambulance District, and the cities of Warrenton and Wright City. The city had been reviewing its procedures to get payments made on a timelier basis. The city's water bill policy states customers have 60 days from the original due date to pay their bill. A 10 percent late fee also is assessed by the city. In a late payment report provided Dec. 8, 42 accounts were in arrears for $4,833.35. In a report dated Nov. 2, 22 accounts, with charges of $2,736.04, were behind in payments. In another report that listed the accounts with balances over 90 days due, the city was owed $4,354.59, including a $1,501.86 balance not listed for accounts that received late notices. Concerns about the delinquent bills were first raised by Alderman Jason Kober several months ago when a report indicated the city was owed $12,000 in delinquent charges. Mayor Dale Verges commented last week that he believes the collection agency may be an avenue favorable for the city. He also indicated the city may try to collect unpaid taxes from the past couple of years. "I really like to find out where we are with the backlog on what we have to collect," he said. "It's an alternative. It looks like we have enough in back taxes for the last five years that it might be worthwhile to pursue that." Skornia said the city can put an ordinance in place where the delinquent payment is paid in whole to the city, with the 30 percent fee not taken from that figure. For example, if the city was owed $100 from an account, her company would seek $130 from the customer. Once an account is in her office for 45 days, Skornia will report the nonpayment to the national credit bureaus. She noted that she is open to payment arrangements for customers who show a willingness to pay the full amount. "If we come out of this recession, people are going to be more and more concerned about their credit scores and what they do," Skornia said. During last Tuesday's work session, the board briefly examined some of its billing procedures. Previously, officials learned customers were not being billed the minimum water and sewer charges in several instances or they were making payment arrangements on past due amounts. Officials plan on evaluating whether customers should be charged more if they voluntarily choose to turn their water off or how much to charge those who have their water shut off involuntarily. The city's current reconnect or disconnect fee is $30.