Emily Plihal
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
At its regular meeting on Sept. 22, Town of Peace River administration recommended council approve writing off some of the outstanding receivables in the Town books.
“These (receivable accounts) are deemed uncollectible,” explains Mayor Elaine Manzer.
“This list was anything from utilities to business licenses,” she adds.
The decision is part of the annual year-end audit process, which Manzer says is in accordance with best practice. The list of receivables that were recommended by administration to be written off the books included the amount, customer number, type of receivable, and other information to justify why they had to be written off.
“Basically, it helps to correctly state the Town’s expenses,” Manzer notes.
“The debts could still be collected if someone owing the money paid. The highest debt owed on the list was about $4,000 and most were less than $300 and some as low as $25. So, it is a cumulation of about 200 accounts.”
The total debt written off by the Town was $46,856.48 of uncollectible receivable debts.
“All debts are money the Town expected to collect as part of the revenues needed to pay for town services and thus others such as taxpayers pay and/or costs of the items increase,” says Manzer.