[Evergreen-circ] Payments on Overdue Items Apply to Lost Charge

[Dawn Dale]

Hi John,,

When a patron has overdues of $2.00 and they are forgiven and then reversed
leaving a balance of -$2.00 that then gets applied to the cost of the item,
$25.00, it leaves a balance of $23.00.  The cost of the item is still
$25.00 but the summary shows $23.00.  I would have staff "adjust to zero"
the negative balance bill so that the summary shows $25.00.  It
will mean staff will need to be diligent in looking at the patron bills
before taking payment though. Someone could look at the patrons with
negative balances daily and make those adjustments but depending on how
many patrons that would involve, that may not be doable.

I hope this helps some.



*Dawn Dale, PINES Services Specialist - Circulation*

------------------------------

Georgia Public Library Service

2872 Woodcock Blvd, Suite 250 | Atlanta, GA 30341

(404) 291-2800, ddale at georgialibraries.org

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On Wed, Feb 3, 2021 at 10:56 AM John Amundson <jamundson at cwmars.org> wrote:

> Hello!
>
> I am hoping for some feedback and possible advice.
>
> *TL;DR:*
> We are having an issue where payments made while an item is overdue are
> deducted from the replacement cost if the item becomes Lost. This is an
> issue for some of our libraries because of how funds are handled. We have
> tried adjusting settings to help with this, but without the desired result.
>
> Is your library/network experiencing this, is it an issue, and do you have
> a workaround?
>
> *Full details:*
> In our system, checked out items become LOST at 28 days overdue, and we do
> not use the Long Overdue setting. When an item becomes LOST, settings are
> in place so that the overdue fines are reversed, and only the replacement
> charge of the item is due.
>
> Here is an example of how this works:
>
>    - An item accrues $2.00 in overdue fines. Then the item becomes lost,
>    which reverses the overdue fines and adds a $25.00 replacement cost. The
>    patron owes a total of $25.00 for the transaction.
>
> This works well most of the time. However, with the pandemic and many
> libraries forgiving fines, we are running into a situation more often. If
> an item's overdue fines are paid for or forgiven while an item is still
> checked out and overdue, and the item becomes lost, the "payment" made
> against the overdue is applied to the lost charge.
>
> Here's an example of this:
>
>    - An item accrues $2.00 in overdue fines. While overdue, the fines are
>    forgiven. The item becomes lost, which reverses the overdue fines and adds
>    a $25.00 replacement cost. The $2.00 "payment" is not reversed, and the
>    patron now only owes $23.00 for the bill.
>
> This has been problematic for some of our libraries because overdue fines
> and lost charges go to separate accounts. For others, it's a problem simply
> because they are not receiving the full replacement cost.
>
> After some discussion, we investigated adjusting our library settings so
> that overdue fines are not adjusted when an item becomes lost. So, when an
> item becomes lost, its overdue fines are still owed.
>
> Here's a couple examples of how this works:
>
>    - An item accrues $2.00 in overdue fees and then becomes lost. The
>    item's replacement cost of $25.00 is charged. The patron owes a total of
>    $27.00 for the transaction.
>    - The item's $2.00 in fines are forgiven while the time is still
>    checked out. The item becomes lost. Only the $25.00 replacement cost is
>    owed for the transaction.
>
> The issue with this behavior is that it doesn't solve the underlying
> problem, and libraries still need to be diligent to ensure fines/lost
> charges are collected appropriately.
>
> How is this situation handled at your library?
>
> If there isn't a current workaround, I plan to open up a bug report on
> Launchpad, but I wanted to check with the list first to make sure we are
> not missing something.
>
> In an ideal world, a setting could be enabled so that payments made while
> an item is overdue are also adjusted in some manner so that the payment
> does not affect the lost charge.
>
> Thanks for reading,
> John
>
> John Amundson | Library Applications Supervisor | CW MARS
>
> jamundson at cwmars.org | 508-755-3323 x322 <%28508%29%20755-3323>
>
> https://www.cwmars.org
>
> He/Him/His <https://www.mypronouns.org/he-him>
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