Merrill Area Public Schools has contracted with a collection agency to attempt to recover thousands of dollars in delinquent food service accounts.
“We have outstanding lunch balances of $36,000 right now,” said finance director Brian Dasher. “This is a first step to try to collect that and enforce the existing policy.”
District administration has been reviewing the policies and procedures for the payment and maintenance of lunch accounts over the past couple of months. Due to the large number and dollar amount of outstanding balances, they decided to seek the services of a third party collections agency. The objective is to reduce the amount of outstanding balances, while minimizing the problem going forward by having another layer of enforcement.
The board chose to go with Credit Bureau Data, Inc. of La Crosse. Credit Bureau Data, Inc. provides services that include reporting delinquent accounts to the credit bureau and filing small claims cases against those who don’t pay. Credit Bureau Data, Inc.’s fee is 25 percent of the amounts collected, or 35 percent if legal action is necessary.