Hi Mary,
In our work acting for Councils from over 30% of the State, we haven’t encountered Councils charging interest on fees such as OnSite Sewer Management etc.
Interest can be charged however if the debtor has contracted to pay it in the terms and conditions of an agreement to provide the goods or services. This is commonly the case with Council property leases, and commercial businesses often include debtor liability for interest on overdue balances plus recovery of debt collection costs in their customer contracts.
We recommend that Councils consider adding such a clause to their agreements for provision of services not related to Rates and Charges, if they wish to recover interest and/or debt collection costs.
We are aware of at least one Rates Department which has revised its processes and documentation, and briefed/trained other areas within council which deliver the services, to make recovery of fees easier.
Hope this helps a bit, but is possibly not the answer you wished for. If we can help with more information, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Richard McLean
Outstanding Collections
02 9545 3115
