COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The state collected a record $329 million in unpaid income and sales taxes, student loans and other debts last year through a revamped process that spread contract work to outside law firms more fairly, Attorney General Marc Dann said Thursday.
The single largest payment was $3.9 million from Delphi Corp., which has filed for bankruptcy protection, and the oldest was $1,700 in income tax from 31 years ago, Dann said.
The old record was $325 million collected in 2006.
The attorney general's office increased the number of outside attorneys receiving debt collection contract work from 80 to 132. Ten minority law firms were given contract work after the attorney general's office reached out to minority law groups.
The new policy reduces fees paid to outside firms for collections and requires in-house staff to work longer to recover debts before turning the work over to outside counsel, saving state money, Dann said. Nearly 58 percent of the $329 million was collected using in-house staff.
Dann said he eliminated the previous policy that he claimed awarded contracts to attorneys who had given political contributions.
"We instituted major reforms over the past year that enabled us to eliminate the perception of a pay-to-play system that cast a cloud over the awarding of outside counsel contracts for years and to collect a record amount of money for the people of Ohio," Dann said.
Dann's tough public stance on pay-to-play contracts wasn't always backed up by his actions during his first year in office, however.
An Associated Press review found that well over half the lawyers required to limit their campaign contributions to Dann to qualify for state work didn't fill out the required paperwork until last October, long after the office began doling out contracts.
This was after Dann faced scrutiny from lawmakers over two contracts.
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