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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, July 14, 2008 Page 6 Roll Call Ayes: Roe; Pust; Willmus; Ihlan and Klausing. Nays: None. 8. Consider Items Removed from Consent a. Approve Agreement with Financial Crimes Services for a Worthless Check Program (Former Consent Item 7.e) City Manager Bill Malinen referred this item to Police Chief Carol Sletner for presentation. Chief Sletner introduced John McCullough, of Financial Crimes Services, LLC (FCS). Mr. McCullough reviewed the program as detailed in the staff report dated July 14, 2008, along with a draft three year agreement for an alternative to criminal prosecution of individual who issue worthless check(s) to merchants and busi- nesses, by Financial Crime Services (FCS). FCS currently provides services, through signed agreement, with 84 municipal and 29 law enforcement agencies in Minnesota, including the St. Paul, North St. Paul and Maplewood Police Depart- ments, along with Washington County Sheriff s Office. Questions addressed of the City Council by Mr. McCullough included: payment of the program by offenders through reimbursement to merchants/victims; budget and financial training education sessions for offenders in lieu of pleading guilty; indemnification for the City and assurances that general liability coverage is kept in place and up-to-date by FCS, noting that the agreement included naming the City as an additional insured on FCS's liability insurance; and the willingness of FCS to provide a bond if the City so required. Mayor Klausing clarified, for the record, that assurance that FCS provided and maintained coverage and that such pertinent information would include evidence of a policy in force. Further discussion included the nature of FCS as afor-profit company. Mr. McCullough reviewed the business model of FCS, currently serving 122 cit- ies in Minnesota and Wisconsin; and the benefits for consolidating cities, and FCS's ability to recoup their costs through the volume of cities served. Mr. McCullough advised that each merchant participating in the program provided a one-time fee of $30; that training class fees for offenders [(4 - 4 hours)] provided additional revenue from offenders; and the success of the program in the lack of repeat offenders receiving training. Mr. McCullough advised that training costs for offenders were between $100 - 150 and were an option rather than pleading guilty; and clarified that FCS was not a collection agency for dishonored checks, but operated on behalf of municipal police departments and governmental agen- cies to provide a service that otherwise was non-existent depending on the sever-