TimminsToday received this letter in response to an April 30 story about the city writing off over $1 million in Provincial Offence Act fines that are over 10 years old.
I am very confused as to why the City of Timmins would write off over $1 million in unpaid fines when our community is constantly asking residents to “dig deeper” into our pockets due to the rising costs that we are presently faced with (taxes are imposed for — needs).
As for the figures presented in the recent story, the city collects 56 per cent, and (two) other municipalities collect 44 per cent of the Provincial Offence Act (POA) funds, which amounts to $595,981.12 for our city which is technically, “free money” (not counted as revenue). Saying no or we don’t need these funds, is totally absurd.
I feel that this fund could be of good use to:
- The reserve fund.
- Painting of the Timmins fire hall that needs a paint job.
- Park upgrading (playgrounds).
- Downtown display (flower pots, ornaments on light poles).
- Walking trail upgrades (more benches).
- Boat launch upgrades (Mattagami — more benches, cement pad at boat launch across from Cedar Meadow Resort entrance).
I am sure there could be more to mention.
Some points of interests:
- POA - the general funds from fines goes back to the jurisdiction that imposed the fines.
- Debt collectors can pursue an old debt for as long as they like however, the normal period is six to seven years.
- Fines owed by a lender or entity might turn over the unpaid debt to an outside collections agency.
- Dissolved companies (a company that no longer exists and cannot conduct business or enter into a contract) make up 36.6 per cent off the write-offs.
- A company that is dissolved but owes a fine or debt must be repaid by that dissolved company (the story states that a company had fines totalling $312,525 — wow)!
An accumulated fine amount of $1 million with a fine total of 1,220 is something that should not be swept under a carpet.
Finally, (correct me if I am missing the boat here) I engender the fact that if one is fined, no worries just let the authorities and collections agencies take care of the issues for six to seven years (10 years is even better), and hopefully the fine will be waived as well!
Gary Kader,
Timmins, Ontario
