North Judson Town council members were asked to consider establishing a lien write-off policy when they met Monday night.
Billing Clerk Jennifer Vanek informed members of a problematic property that inspired her to inquire about adopting a policy.
She stated, “There’s a property in town where the house has basically been abandoned. We currently have $1846.60 in liens on that property right now plus the current water bill due there is $638.65.”
She went on to explain how writing those liens off would cost the town money.
“Every time I place a lien on a property, the town pays $50; $25 for a filing and $25 for a release,” Vanek continued, “but if we end up writing that off, the town has lost $50 so for each one of those, the town is going to lose $50 if these get written off.”
Vanek said normally, they handle these on a case by case basis but she thought it would be beneficial to have a general policy in place for future properties. She proposed establishing an ordinance for declaring bad debt uncollectable.
She said she spoke with Town Attorney Justin Schramm about the matter and he’s drawn up similar ordinances for Winamac and Francesville. He indicated that he would be able to adjust the policy to fit the specifications laid out by North Judson officials.
After briefly checking with other council members, Council President John Rowe said that the matter would be taken under advisement and they would take action at the next meeting.
