As of October 2026, TSI’s Accounts Receivable Management (ARM) service collects past-due receivables for cities, counties and municipal courts, including utility bills, ambulance fees, court fines and costs, code-enforcement penalties, permits and license fees. Your finance office approves the notices and settlement rules, and TSI reports results by department.
Results vary by portfolio, including account age, balance and type, and by client program.
Got a letter or call from TSI about your own account? Go to the Consumer Support Hub
Why municipal receivables are hard to collect
Most cities don’t have one receivable. They have 10 or more: a utility billing system, an ambulance billing vendor, the municipal court, code enforcement, a permits desk. Each one ages its own balances, and few have staff to chase them.
State law often sets when you can refer. Tennessee’s Municipal Technical Advisory Service, for example, notes that a municipality may hire a collection agency by ordinance once court fines and costs go unpaid for 60 days.
And every call your vendor makes is a call from city hall, as far as the resident is concerned.
What TSI collects for local government
| Receivable | How TSI works it |
|---|---|
| Final-billed water, sewer, trash and electric accounts | Letters, calls and payment plans under your utility’s rules. Disconnection decisions stay with you |
| Ambulance and EMS transport fees | Self-pay balances after insurance, worked with the care your residents expect on a medical bill |
| Municipal court fines and costs | Collection after your referral date, with payment plans inside the court’s rules |
| Parking, camera and code-enforcement penalties | See parking and traffic violation collections |
| Permits, license fees, false-alarm fees, damage to city property | Third-party collection with the department named on every notice |
| Accounts approved for suit | Referral through TSI’s legal recovery network, only where your ordinance and state law allow |
State revenue departments and central collection units have their own page: delinquent tax and state debt collection.
How the work runs
- One file layout, many departments
Each department places accounts on its own client code, so a utility balance and a court fine never get the same letter. Files move by secure file transfer from each billing system. - Notices carry your words
Your finance office approves every letter and script. Letters and phone messages point residents to your payment channels when your contract says payments go to the city. - Residents get a way to pay
Payment plans, a self-service portal and a 24/7 phone line, in English and Spanish, with interpreters for other languages and TTY or relay service for callers who are deaf or hard of hearing. - Hardship gets a real review
When someone can’t pay, collectors review their situation and offer only the options your city authorizes, including referrals to assistance programs on scripts you approve. - Results by department and age
Monthly reports show liquidation by department at 1, 6, 12 and 24 months after placement, so council and auditors see what each receivable returns.
Controls a council will ask about
For government engagements, data, systems and collection staff stay in the United States. TSI is licensed or registered in every state that requires it and authorized to collect in all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico (NMLS ID 950422), has worked since 1970 and reports a 99.997% complaint-free contact rate across its services.
TSI also collects for municipalities in Canada through TSI Canada, including provincial offence fines. See collections in Canada.
Where TSI isn’t the fit: very small balances can cost more to collect than they return, so TSI may suggest a minimum balance or a letter-only program for some departments. And because results depend on how old and how worked an account is, TSI won’t quote a recovery rate before it sees your files.
Frequently asked questions
Can TSI collect for several city departments under one contract?
Yes. Each department gets its own client code, notices and reporting, under one master agreement.
Do payments have to go through TSI?
No. When your contract requires it, residents pay the city directly and TSI’s notices point them to your payment channels.
Does TSI collect municipal court fines?
Yes, after the court’s referral date and within the court’s payment-plan rules.
Will residents be reported to the credit bureaus?
Only if you direct it and state law allows it for that type of debt.
Start with one department
The Recovery Performance Diagnostic sets baseline economics on one department's receivables, reviews contact strategy and complaint risk, and designs a carve-out you can run beside your current vendor. To compare vendors on what each department keeps after fees, use the net-back calculator.
General information, current as of October 27, 2026. It isn’t legal advice. Rules change and differ by state, so check the sources linked here and talk to your own counsel before you act on it.