Arizona Cities Outsourcing Debt Collection

If you are an Arizona citizen who owed money for power, gas or water then chances are that you will be, or will have, had contact with a debt collection agency.

As the Cities of Arizona struggle for cash, they claim that their staff lack the necessary skills and resources, not to mention time and expertise, to track down and chase outstanding accounts. By outsourcing to debt recovery companies the cities say that it will help to keep utilities costs down.

Last year the city of Mesa outsourced it’s delinquent accounts to a debt collection agency and recouped $1.4million while Peoria has been outsourcing to debt collectors for eight years.

The utility billing and revenue manager for Surprise says the city started using a collection agency and recovered 32 percent of past-due water and sewage bills.