A year after Warren County hired a collections firm to go after delinquent garbage surcharge fees and unpaid justice court fines, little money has been recovered and many accounts have yet to be turned over to a Natchez-based debt collector.

Figures from the county show 1,411 residential and commercial garbage accounts in arrears, owing $474,074.34 in fees, have been turned over to Receivable Solutions Specialists Inc. Through Dec. 8, the firm had sent $10,808.15 back to the county from delinquent accounts, County Administrator John Smith said.

Of about $3 million estimated unpaid debts owed to justice court, cases amounting to $662,215 have been turned over, Smith said, with collections since June still to be tallied.

Under Warren County’s waste ordinance, private firms serve all non-municipal addresses. For each account, a $1.25 monthly surcharge is tacked onto bills. Service providers pay the surcharge over to the county, but may tap the fund for accounts that don’t pay or leave town owing money. The fund is also supposed to pay the county’s administrative costs.

In recent months, the fund has needed infusions of cash from the general fund to remain solvent. More than $71,000 was transferred to the garbage fund from the general fund during fiscal 2008-09. Another $1,059.75 was transferred Monday.

Supervisors have wanted a database of all county addresses to be able to track compliance, but establishing such a file and keeping it current has been a challenge. Such a database could also be cross-referenced with garbage companies’ lists of addresses they serve.

In July, progress was reported in tracking the number of paying customers, with more than 12,000 active accounts showing up on lists overseen by Warren County Environmental Officer Kelly Worthy, who said later the number was overestimated in part because it exceeded the number of total housing units countywide. Worthy — also the county fire coordinator — has since declined to release updates, citing the need to round out a comprehensive list of addresses to compare to the garbage database regardless of how long it’s likely to take.

As far the court fines, the county had expected to turn over about a third of the accounts to the professional collector, but that goal has not been met. The $662,215 turned over represents 4,914 cases.

Partial payments for traffic tickets and other fines had been accepted in the past, as per specific court orders. In recent months, supervisors have asked the three elected misdemeanor court judges to order more partial payments for more types of cases, such as DUIs and first- or second-offense domestic violence charges handled in justice court. Word on the street that the county had hired a collections firm increased payments somewhat, county sources said.

The county waste ordinance requires that all commercial firms and households must hire one of the five companies offering services outside the city limits, take their waste to a landfill themselves if documented or show proof in writing that they have permission to dispose of trash in a commercial receptacle.

Also responding to financial pressures, Vicksburg officials in November launched a partial amnesty program seeking to recover roughly $2 million in unpaid city fines. By December, $18,307.33 had been taken off the books when debtors agreed to payment plans or community service. The lure in the city’s offer is suspension of bench warrants for people who arrange to pay or work off their fines.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com