Contracting proposal pulled off agenda after lobbying efforts from Bargaining Unit 1 members
3:28 PM - August 23, 2012
Because of the lobbying strength of our members, the Board of
Equalization (BOE) announced Tuesday it has shelved a proposal to
outsource some accounts receivable collections to a private
firm.
The original proposal called for a portion of uncollected
accounts receivable to be outsourced to an undisclosed private
vendor. Ever since this came to light, Local 1000 members and
staff have pressured BOE to drop the proposal because this type
of outsourcing doesn’t save money and private collection agencies
are less accountable.
One day before the proposal was scheduled to go for board
approval, BOE announced via email: “…we have removed the
Contracting Out Receivables element from the Accounts Receivable
Board Change Proposal.”
BOE officials said they would like to work with Local 1000 to
find a way to collect these unpaid funds. For more than five
years, Local 1000 has argued for increased resources and efforts
to close the “tax gap” – an estimated $1.8 billion that remains
uncollected. Studies by Local 1000’s Research Department have
shown that each new tax collector hired nets the state an
estimated $340,000 a year.
Although we won today, it is important that we remain vigilant
because BOE will likely resurrect this issue in the future.
In solidarity,
Tamekia N. Robinson
Vice President for Organizing/Representation