Fines more than a decade old totalling $329,198 have been written off.
Timmins council approved writing off the 3,148 files at its May 26 meeting.
The provincial offence notices were issued between 2000 and 2009. Most of the fines — $304,165 or 92 per cent of the write offs — were under the Liquor Licence Act. The remaining eight per cent were under Trespass to Property Act for $25,032.
Director of finance Natalie Moore told council the most common fines are for being intoxicated in a public place, for a person under 19 consuming alcohol, and driving with liquor readily available.
Last year, she said a similar report was brought to council to write off fines greater than 20 years old.
“This year we’re looking at writing off anything that’s greater than 10 years old, again with a focus on the Liquor Licence Act and the Trespass to Property Act. The reason we focus on those fines is because they’re not tied to a licence plate or to a driver’s licence,” she said.
For fines that are tied to licences, she said they're kept on the list because people can't renew their licence without paying it.
“We try to collect for the first six months and then we pass it on to a collection agency. So for the last over 20 years the collection agency has been trying to collect on these fines and we haven’t been able to therefore it’s close to zero per cent chance...to collect on these,” she said.
The write offs won't impact the city's bottom line.
While the provincial offence notices balance right now is $9 million, she explained it's recognized on a cash basis.
