City looking to clean up debt

Spurred by a new report showing the city has failed to collect more than $540 million in delinquent debts, officials announced a host of measures Monday to begin recouping the money they say is desperately needed to fund programs and avoid layoffs. Daily News.

The Commission on Revenue Enhancement said Los Angeles can no longer afford to carry such massive debt and recommended, among other things, the appointment of a "collections sheriff" to coordinate the effort to round up old debt.

Drafted over the past several months, the commission's Blueprint for Reforms of City Collections calls for hiring an inspector general to oversee collections for two to three years. The blueprint also suggests centralizing collection and penalizing departments that fail to collect what's owed them.