Muskego Captures $36K — and Counting — From Unpaid Tickets

Judge Patrick Berrigan has ruled the Muskego Municipal Court for many years, and a recent changeover in court clerks at first had him admittedly worried.

"Honestly I was terrified when Deb (Kujawa) announced she was retiring, because she had just done an amazing job, but I'm here to say that Susan Hutcheson has stepped in and has been fantastic," Berrigan told the Muskego Finance Committee Tuesday night.

Part of Hutcheson's task was to delve into cases where court fines had gone unpaid, and uncollected by the city. She told the committee that some go back as far as 1984, but a newer program called TIPS allows the courts to employ tax intercept to garner fines from the delinquent defendants.

Tax intercept uses money that defendants would normally receive through state tax refunds, lottery winnings and other such income and draws whatever is owed on warrants into the courts for payment.

However the task has taken more time than Hutcheson, who is full time, and Emily Herda, a part time deputy clerk, are reasonably allowed by the city. So Berrigan asked the committee to allow Herda's position to become full time, and given the revenue the work has already brought in, it was a no-brainer for most on the committee.

Hutcheson told the committee that since December 2012, the addition of records into the tax intercept program has brought in $35,983 in previously uncollected fines. She explained that she and Herda had "just gotten started" on the backlog, and said that even after they catch up, the revenue increase would reach a constant for the city.

However, not everyone was eager to act on the request, which would cost the city an additional $19,800 in payroll for the remainder of this year, and $27,800 next year. Alderman Dan Soltysiak told other members of the committee he thought the idea was good, but they should look at upgrading the position to full time next year.

"We didn't budget this, we're not sure how much this really will bring in. I think this will be a good idea, but this is not the appropriate time to be adding a position," he said. 

However, Berrigan reiterated that "I feel this is going to significantly increase our revenue even as we get caught up, and as we're entering the height of tax season, we'd like to capture what revenue we can." 

Soltysiak admitted that he knew he would be out voted on the issue, and the committee approved the request based on the additional recommendation from Sharon Mueller, the city finance director.