City owed millions

As the city begins laying off hundreds of workers, a new audit released Thursday shows its agencies fail to collect at least $260 million a year for traffic tickets, ambulance transports and other services.

City Controller Wendy Greuel and other officials noted the city could have avoided layoffs and some service cuts this year if it did a better job collecting unpaid bills.

Greuel's audit of a sampling of city agencies found they collected only 53percent of the money owed to them, virtually unchanged from the 52 percent rate found under a similar audit conducted three years ago.