Record collections for Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, official says

Anderson County Circuit Court Clerk Tyler Mayes announced on Monday that revenues in his office exceeded projections by nearly $400,000 in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

The total revenues budgeted for all revenue codes within the Circuit Court Clerk’s office was about $1.46 million, while the office brought in revenues of $1.86 million, Mayes said in a press release.

“The bulk of these excess revenues has been returned to the General Fund and will have a positive impact on the undesignated fund balance,” Mayes said. “Some revenues have designated uses by state law and are assigned to those specific expenditures.”

Mayes, who took office last year, said he had looked at the three- and five-year averages for his office and set accountability goals for himself and his office staff.

“We need to be accountable both in our professional work with the courts and the citizens hard-earned taxpayer dollars,” Mayes said. “We have set our goals high.”

He said the actual collections of court fees was budgeted at $925,000, but about $1.05 million was collected during the year.

The biggest jump in revenues came in the collection of bond forfeitures that collected roughly $186,000 when only $50,000 was budgeted. Mayes said his office made a concentrated effort to collect delinquent bond forfeitures. The five-year average for those collections was under $26,000, and the office brought in more than $185,000 this past year, Mayes said.

“This is revenue that will help county government meet its obligations,” he said.

Mayes said there were also increases in several other revenue codes as his office seeks to improve efficiencies.

“We will continue to look for ways to be more efficient and increase revenues and hold the line on expenses,” he said. “My No. 1 priority is to be accountable to the taxpayers of Anderson County. I am very proud of what my staff and I accomplished during the past year.”