Believing the city was pricing itself out of the market for serving papers, Oconto Falls has reduced its fee by $19.
Effective July 8, district attorney offices, lawyers and other agencies can contract with the Oconto Falls Police Department to serve court papers for a fee of $25, down from $44 previously.
Police Sgt. Corey Rank told the City Council on July 8 the city earned $680 for the service in 2012 but only $300 in 2013. He attributed the reduced demand to the $44 fee. Other agencies offer the same service for $20 or $25, he said.
In some cases, people visited City Hall to hire the Oconto Falls Police Department for the service but hired someone else once they learned of the $44 fee, City Administrator Vicki Roberts said. She recommended the fees be adjusted immediately to generate revenue for the city.
Rank said officers deliver the court documents while on their usual patrols, and the city incurs no extra cost for providing the service.
Rank also recommended a $15 fee increase for fingerprinting, which the council adopted. Individuals will now pay $40 for fingerprints, up from $25 previously.
According to Rank, fingerprinting is about a 20-minute process, and the department has the expense of time, ink and paper. Others provide the service for $20-$50, but because fingerprinting is not widely available, he said he didn’t anticipate losing business because of the higher fee.
Some individuals are required to be fingerprinted for their employment, he said.
The department fingerprinted five individuals this year, five in 2013 and 11 in 2012, according to Rank.
Categories
