Collection agency to help Ocean Springs city clerk department

The Ocean Springs city clerk will now have the help from the American Municipal Services in recovering court fines, fees, and parking citations.

During tonight’s board of alderman meeting a motion was passed to bring the collection agency on board. The service is free of charge for the city and charges anyone owing outstanding fines or fees to the city clerk department a one-time 25 percent penalty fee.

Deborah Sivira, the senior account executive with AMS, says their services are provided to many other cities on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and serves like a third hand to the city clerk department.  “We will be able to go in and whatever they turn over to us we’ll be able to look at all of them. We are going to send letters, make phone calls. If for some reason they’ve forgotten to credit that person and that person has paid we’ll be able to go back to the city and say ‘will you  re-look at this person?’”

Recently the City of Ocean Springs has found some inconsistencies within their court fines which has delayed their annual audit from being completed. Sivira says their services will pick up on human error and insure all fees are paid.