The commissioners, who are also the members of the board of the Retirement Fund, agreed on Friday to adopt a policy governing collections and write-offs.
With the policy in place, the WCC decided that of the total year-to-date receivables of $901,330, $640,650.30 in dead accounts would be stricken off the books.
Fund Acting Administrator Esther Ada explained to the commissioners that the said dead accounts stemmed from penalty assessments from various non-compliance with WCC statute.
“Some of those are late filing of policies from employers. Some of them are stemming from late filing of WCC claims or failure to report work-related injuries within the given period of time as provided by law,” Ada said.
She said these account receivables had built up over the years and some of them have already exceeded the statute of limitations “which means they are barred from collection.”
WCC follows the general statute of limitations of six years.
Ada said some of the accounts even go back to 1991.
She said of the $901,330 in collectibles, they have identified amounts that can be written off. She explained that some of the businesses are no longer in operation. Some had been dissolved either administratively or voluntarily.
She also said that $261,330 of the $901,330 in collectibles are under review and can still be collected.
WCC director Frank D. Cabrera said the audit only identified the total number in the book of accounts receivables and “did not identify what to be written off or what not.”
He said he discussed this with legal counsel Christopher Timmons and that the only way to clean the books out is to work with the statute of limitations.
He said WCC kept a list of businesses that are administratively dissolved or voluntarily dissolved.
Some people, he said, had left the islands and some are in jail.
Cabrera said those incarcerated are not expected to be released in five to six years.
Those accounts deemed no longer recoverable were compared with Cabrera’s documentation of business licenses, bankruptcy cases, among other indicators.
Acting Chairman Jerry P. Crisostimo pointed out that it is important to be clear on this.
Cabrera also assured the commissioners that based on discussion with legal counsel Christopher Timmons that the statute of limitations to collect does apply.
Fund renews lease
In other news, the Retirement Fund has renewed the lease of Workers Compensation Commission until May 2013.
According to acting Administrator Esther Ada WCC will be paying $1.25 per square foot of the 675 sq. ft. of space that WCC has been occupying at the Retirement Fund building.
“As soon as we finalize the lease, they would pay it at a $1.25 per sq. ft.,” said Ada.
At the WCC board meeting last Friday, WCC director Frank D. Cabrera expressed WCC’s intent to continue the lease.
He told WCC commissioners that it is within range of comparable available space on island.
In an interview with Variety last Friday, Cabrera said WCC has been leasing with the Retirement Fund since 1999.
They have been renting the space at the building for $1.25 per square foot ever since, he said.
WCC is a component unit of the Retirement Fund.
