PITTSBURGH -- Pennsylvania is facing a major money crunch. But a Team 4 investigation finds the state is still failing to collect millions of dollars in unpaid fines and fees.

Team 4: State Failing To Collect Millions In Unpaid Fines

In many cases the state has stopped even trying to get the money.

Why isn't the state going after these folks?

Channel 4 Action News' Paul Van Osdol's reports it's in part because different state agencies are pointing fingers at each other.

The bottom line, Van Osdol reports, is the state is owed more than $14 million in fines and fees at a time when the state is facing a more than half-billion dollar budget hole.

After hearing about Channel 4 Action News' findings, an influential state legislator told Van Osdol the state needs to do a better job getting money it's owed, so taxpayers don't have to make up the difference.

What follows is a transcript of Channel 4 Action News' Paul Van Osdol's script:

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The Pittsburgh Xplosion is a local pro basketball team run by CEO Richard Hersperger. Nine years ago -- when he was in the telephone business -- the state called a foul on him.

In 1999, the state Public Utility Commission fined Hersperger and his company nearly $1 million for misleading thousands of customers. But Hersperger never paid the fine.

Van Osdol: "I want to ask you some questions."

Hersperger: "What are you the collection division for the PUC now Paul?"

Actually that's the attorney general's job. In 2003 the AG's office filed a judgment against Hersperger for $958,000, the amount he owed. But a PUC attorney tells Team 4 the judgment was filed too late -- beyond the three-year statute of limitations -- and therefore uncollectible.

Van Osdol: "To them it's unenforceable."

Corbett: - "That's not what I have here."

Attorney General Tom Corbett said his office acted appropriately. But Hersperger did not have any money.

Corbett: "The claim was closed in this office in 2003 because no assets could be executed on."

Van Osdol: "You still owe the fine though, right?"

Hersperger: "Again you're trying -- no I don't owe the fine. A company that went bankrupt owed the fine but you're trying to rifle me about something that happened ten years ago."

But Hersperger's name is on the fine and the judgment.

And that's just one case. Team 4 got the list of unpaid fines and fees from the Attorney General -- and it's long. We printed out just the list of people who owe money to PennDOT and it stretches the entire length of a football field. More than 15,000 people and businesses owing more than $7 million. And remember, this is just for one state agency.

The PennDOT list includes drivers who never paid their registration fees and it also includes big corporations including Chase Manhattan, Ford and General Electric who never paid damage claims.

Then there's Beynons Service Station in Bethel Park. In 2002, PennDOT investigators found 26 emissions inspections involving "uncertified inspectors" and "fraudulent record keeping." PennDOT fined Beynons $183,000.

But Beynons did not pay a dime of that fine for more than five years.

Beynon: "It was never enforced."

Owner Scott Beynon said the state finally contacted him late last year and agreed to settle the case for just $7,500.

Beynon: "They just wiped our slate clean because it was their fault they didn't pursue it, you know what I mean it was on the back shelf."

Van Osdol: "That must have made you feel good, eh?"

Beynon: "Yeah."

Kurt Myers, Deputy Secretary, PennDOT: "Clearly, this was not efficiently handled. It should have been turned over long before it was for the purposes of being collected."

The state never got a court judgment against Beynons. Not PenndDOT, not the AG's office. But Corbett said getting a judgment against a big debtor is always a good idea.

Corbett: "He could always win the lottery, He could win the powerball, He could be the one who gets $52 million. I want that judgment."

But records show the state hardly ever files judgments against those owing big fines. Team 4 found a Philadelphia insurance company with a $425,000 unpaid fine; a Brookville car dealer with a $230,000 unpaid fine; a Florida investment manager who owes $104,000; and a Philadelphia-area doctor who owes $50,000. State agencies never filed judgments against any of them.

Van Osdol: "It did not appear your office had gotten a judgment in these cases."

Corbett: "Well, we may not get a judgment because it may be something that was referred to us by the agency."

Myers: "We're not a collection agency. And, in fact ,that responsibility is really left to the Attorney General's office."

Without judgments in hand, the state writes off millions in unpaid fines and fees. The state even wrote off a $216 unpaid elevator inspection fee against UPMC, which had $7 billion in revenues last year.

Corbett: "If you have that case, I want to see it. Because why did we not get something from something like UPMC? It's a good question and it should be answered."

In these tough financial times -- Gov. Ed Rendell said the state needs every dollar.

Van Osdol: "Shouldn't they at least be seeking judgments in some of these cases?"

Rendell "It would appear to me the answer to that is yes."

In light of Team 4's findings, state Sen. Jim Ferlo -- a member of the Finance Committee -- said he will investigate further.

Ferlo: "It needs to be collected and it's an issue the various departments need to review based on your investigation. I mean, we need to be serious. If we're going to issue these fines, we got to be serious about collecting that revenue."

We also found a number of elected officials with unpaid fines, as well as the Allegheny County Republican Party.

They were all fined for filing late campaign finance reports.

Among them are Allegheny County Judges Jeffrey Manning and Dwayne Woodruff who, after we contacted them, said they would pay the fines.

The county GOP's treasurer said she would also pay the fine.

As for UPMC -- a spokesperson said they never received the bills from the state, but after we contacted them they paid up.

And as for Beynons -- they are paying that $7,500 fine and in compliance with the law.

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