Petal's budget problems that forced city officials to lay off workers recently could be resolved if the thousands of people who have overdue fines would do the right thing and pay what they owe.
But that's unlikely to happen.
Hattiesburg American has found that more than 2,000 people owe $1.12 million for violations — mostly traffic offenses — from early 2003 through June.
The problem? The city has only one warrant officer who is responsible for tracking down the scofflaws. And he's not allowed to go beyond the city limits.
Unfortunately, only 27 percent of the offenders gave Petal addresses. And many of those addresses were wrong to begin with or are no longer current.
Almost 40 percent of the offenders are from Hattiesburg. But getting a Hattiesburg officer to serve a warrant for an outstanding Petal traffic violation means taking that officer away from his duty to Hattiesburg.
And if the police find the violators, what are they going to do with them?
Putting them in jail sounds like a good idea, but the Forrest County Jail is already crowded. If it comes down to putting a felony suspect or a deadbeat with a speeding ticket in jail, the answer is obvious.
It's the classic Catch-22.
One possibility the Board of Aldermen is considering is hiring a private firm to collect the fines and keeping a percentage of what they collect. But city officials need to take a close look at how those firms have fared in other cities.
It's not as if Petal isn't collecting any fines. The municipal court, where the cases are heard, brought in more than $591,000 in fiscal 2008 and almost $450,000 in fiscal 2009.
But there are plenty of people who haven't paid their fines.
And the city is in bad economic shape. Nineteen city employees, including a warrant officer, were laid off in June.
And this is not a problem that belongs only to Petal. Many Mississippi cities have difficulty collecting fines they are owed.
Maybe the cities could take a cue from the state, which has posted the photos of deadbeat dads on billboards in some cities.
If nothing else, they could shame them into paying what they owe.
— Hattiesburg American
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Collecting fines is a classic Catch-22
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