Petersburg, Va. -- There are long lines outside Petersburg City Hall, as residents line up to pay their personal property tax.
But Petersburg officials expressed concern over delays between when payments are made, and when the checks are deposited at the bank.
The last two weeks in February and early June are when the lines form. The checks and cash are desperately needed for the city coffers.
Robert Bobb, who leads the interim management team said that deposits aren’t being made every day, and on Wednesday a debt service payment is due.
"This is not a new event and therefore you prepare and plan for it,” Bobb said. “What needs to happen is that the treasurer's office needs to work this weekend, this evening, whatever amount of time it takes, to get those checks processed and deposited into our bank account."
So many people paying for money that they can't process checks
The Bobb group said they are concerned over "hundreds of checks in large trays” and called it “patently inexcusable."
Treasurer Kevin Brown didn’t deny the hold up.
"Everybody paying cash is standing in line,” he said, which deters staff members from processing mailed checks.
"Our staff right now is trying to get the lines everyday processed, so we can get all these people taken care of,” Brown said.
Brown said deposits are made daily but in April, checks sent by mail will go to Suntrust Lockbox Operations.
“They will process our payments and send us a file the next morning telling what they deposited in our account."
Brown said he takes the blame for any delay, and that they are doing all they can.
