Dalton Municipal Court Judge Rob Cowan, Court Administrator Angela Sackett, TRIP Program Coordinator Misty Kovach, and State Administrative Office of the Courts representatives Randy Dennis and Mike Cuccaro.Dalton, Ga., is signing up for a state pilot program allowing it to collect outstanding court fines from state income tax refunds and take a cut for itself.
The Georgia Tax Refund Intercept Program (TRIP) became law last year, according to a city news release.
Dalton Municipal Court Judge Robert Cowan said states with similar programs have collected as much as $2 million a year through tax interceptions.
"I think this will be a positive initiative for us to try to recoup some of the money that's due to the court," Cowan said.
Under the law, people with unpaid fines are given a 30-day notice before their tax refunds are garnisheed. The Georgia Department of Revenue will collect the money owed from the offender's state income tax on behalf of the Administrative Office of the Courts of Georgia.
Offenders may contest the collection or dispute its amount, but if they don't, the fines and fees will come off the top of the tax refund and the rest will be sent to the offender.
Mayor Dennis Mock said the pilot program "should help our collection rate tremendously."
For more information, see the program website at www.trip.georgiacourts.gov or contact the program's administrators directly at 404-463-5127.