Scoff Law Could be coming to Lubbock County
By: Julie Musgrave
Updated: December 3, 2008
Drivers could soon face a harsher penalty for not paying outstanding fines to the city.
Known as the Scoff Law, it's quickly gaining popularity across the state and is being considered for Lubbock County. It was first passed in El Paso, now Llano County will start it in two weeks. But already they report the law is recovering dollars lost to their cities. Under the Scoff Law, if you owe any fines or fees to the city, you will not be allowed to renew your car registration. County Commissioner Bill McCay says the revenues from people not paying their fines hurts Lubbock County, and even though there's several reliable sources that are efficient in collections there is still revenue lost once taxes are paid to the state. By enforcing this law, it could also mean lower taxes for you. But county officials aren't jumping into anything. Before this law is passed, they want to make sure there are no possible complications that could result. "If we can figure how to keep more of the money that we're collecting, then that will help us keep the tax rate lower. And so it's critical that we collect every dime, every penny that we can collect, and ensure that we're collecting all of those, so that we can hopefully offset that tax rate." McCay says it's still early in the process, so any vote is still a ways away.
