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Agenda 09/09-10/2008 Item #10B ~ I N~GE{~:; ;~,:~', : SEP ;, ,i i,'n, l!g-~L:i '."J EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 13 To report to the Collier County Board of County Commissioners concerning the potential scale of a proposed Rental Registration refund of late fees in excess of eighty dollars ($80) for the period of Fiscal Years 2005 through 2007, and a recommendation for a potential refund methodology. (Joe Schmill and Gary Mullee) OBJECTIVE:To report to the Collier County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) concerning the potential scale of a proposed Rental Registration refund of late fees paid in excess of $80 for the period of Fiscal Years 2005 through 2007, and to make a recommendation for a potential refund methodOlogy should the BCC so choose to approve such a refund. i.- CONSIDERATIONS: At their June 10, 2008 meeting, the BCC requested that staff review internal records and calculate the monetary impact of a potential refund of Rental Registration late fees, collected during Fiscal Years 2005 through 2007, for the amount exceeding an intended cap of $80 per each individual property participating in the program. This requested review identified a potential for issuing 584 refunds, with a dollar value not to exceed $101,100, By comparison, for the Fiscal Year following this refund review period, the current FY 2008, rental registration program revenue is expected to total approximately $140,000, The review of Rental Registration records revealed two potential record'keeping issues. First, the legacy computer system that is used for record,keeping maintains one note field attached to the applicant record, and not attached to each payment transaction. The result of this design is that notations are often overwritten each year, and what appears to be a potential refund may in some cases be a different circumstance, such as a multi-year payment (the notes explaining events in a given year have been overwritten by notes from later years). For the calculation of the potential refund scale, the assumption of a refund was always used to insure that a maximum cap amount of potential refunds was presented to the BCC (the actual refund amount may be less than the identified $101,1 OO). Second, there appears to be a certain amount of property ownership turnover during this period, and new addresses for previous owners were not recorded in the system With these record,keeping considerations, should the BCC wish to approve a refund program, staff is recommending a methodology which includes first notifying potential refund recipients that they may be eligible for a partial late payment refund, and asking them to contact staff so that the amount of the partial refund may be confirmed, Such initial notice will also insure that the correct individual, at the correct address, is receiving the refund (refunds would be made to the individuals who made the original payment, and would not necessarily be associated with the property if it subsequently changed ownership), The management and operation of the refund process, if approved by the BCC, will be conducted by the Community Development and Environmental Services Business Management and BUdget Office, and full reporting as to the program’s progress will be made available to the BCC. FISCAL IMPACT:Should the BCC approve such a refund of Rental Registration late fees paid in excess of $80, a Budget Amendment will be brought to the BCC in Fiscal Year 2009 to fund this program from Fund 111 reserves (Rental Registration revenue for the Fiscal Years 2005 through 2007 period of time was deposited into Fund 111). GROWTH MANAGEMENT IMPACT:There are no growth management impacts. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS:This request has been reviewed for legal sufficiency, and is legally sufficient for Board action. -JW - RECOMMENDA TION:To have the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) accept this report of ~ AGENDA i'W'~1'~- No. l() ( ,) ~~~nn~i~lr~~f~~~~:~~~e ::~sn~~~~~~ted with the Rental registration program, and to i ., i~~~~~fu~~~~::k Prepared By: Department CDES Budget Date 8/28/200812:47:29 PM Approved By: Department Approval Date County Attorney Approved 8/28/2008 1 :30 PM Approved By: Department Approval Approved Date CDES 8/28/20082:05 PM Approved By: Department Office of Management and Budget Approval Date Approved 8/28/20085:13 PM Approved By: Department Approval Date County Approved Manager's Office 8/28/2008 6:10PM ATTACHMENTS: Name: Description: Type: No Attachments Available