Corp Comm Connects

York Region girds up to go after unpaid fines

Region plans to use collection agencies and other means to recoup some of $46M in outstanding fines, dating to 1999.

Thestar.com
May 26, 2016
By Noor Javed

If you have an old speeding ticket you haven’t paid, a new enforcement strategy adopted by the Region of York this month will go to great lengths to make sure you pay up.

Earlier this month, council approved enhanced means of going after violators that will include boosting the use of collection agencies, putting outstanding charges on a property tax bill, and potentially putting a lien on the individual’s property.

It’s all aimed at helping to recoup $46 million worth of unpaid fines that have accumulated since 1999.

“Most of the measures that we proposed are already in place and available,” said Joy Hulton, solicitor for York Region. “But we wanted to put them together into a consolidated strategy so that we could address that significant amount of defaulted fines we are dealing with.”

Collecting outstanding fines for violations of the Provincial Offences Act has long been recognized as a challenge for municipalities across the province. About 85 per cent of POA infractions are violations of the Highway Traffic Act, such as speeding or running a red light, and the Compulsory Auto Insurance Act. Other infractions relate to municipal bylaws and transit enforcement.

Toronto, which accounts for one-quarter of the POA infractions filed in the province, has been using many of these measures for the past few years - with mixed results.

According to the 2015 briefing note on unpaid provincial offences fines, Toronto still had $246 million in outstanding traffic act and insurance act fines, dating back to 2001.

Barry Randell, director of court services for Toronto, said the “go-to” enforcement tools for traffic infractions are suspending a driver’s licence or denying licence plate renewal.

But fines generated by municipal or transit infractions are often difficult to collect, because those mechanisms aren’t available. In that case, the city tries to collect using a collection agency or by putting the fine on individual’s property tax bill.

The City of Toronto report says its seven collection agencies were able to recover $8 million in 2014. And the city has recouped more than $500 million in fines since 2002. Most of the money goes to pay for municipal court services.

But even with these measures, the city report estimated that $132 million in fines was likely to go uncollected because of the type or age of the fine.

“It’s a lot of work to get people to pay up,” Randell said.

Normally, once charged, an individual has options to pay the fine, dispute the charge through early resolution, or request a trial.

In York, about 20 per cent of all fines, roughly 20,000, aren’t paid and end up going to collection services. Nearly 60 per cent of all fines in default can’t be enforced through licence plate and driver’s licence denials.

While all of the enforcement measures have been in place, they’re not getting sufficient results, Hulton said. So the region plans to increase the number of collection agencies it works with, from four to 10. “We found they haven’t been performing as well as they could,” she said.

York Region has also been engaged in discussions with local municipalities about including the fine on property tax bills, but can only do so where the property is owned solely by the person who has an unpaid fine. Toronto was able to reclaim $3.5 million this way, according to the 2015 report.

The region is also considering civil enforcement measures such as issuing the debt against the property or collecting through garnishment of wages or bank accounts, though those are expensive options.

“As a result of this financial risk, civil enforcement would only be used in circumstances when the amount of the fine merits the expenditure and risk,” the staff report said.

Bill 31, passed last year, allows for plate denial on vehicles owned by individuals in Ontario convicted of Highway Traffic and associated driving-related offences, where fines are in default. The new measures will take effect in 2017.

Hulton said that because the debts are perpetual, the fine will “never go away,” and the safest option is to deal with any ticket right away.

“It becomes increasingly more expensive to pay a fine” past the due date because collection and administration fees are added, she said. “We want residents to know that once the collection process begins, the penalty goes up quite a bit.”

UNPAID FINES