Lincoln County supervisors on Monday authorized a private firmto assist the county in collecting old Justice Court fines.

Supervisors had considered the action for weeks before grantingPaul Newman the authority to pursue collections.

There is more than $1.5 million in old Justice Court finesoutstanding, Chancery Clerk Tillmon Bishop said.

Newman said his company will be paid only on the collections itmakes and not on the number of cases worked. The company’s fee is25 percent of the fine collected.

The fee, however, will be offset because the county approved thecompany to assess a 25 percent penalty on fines more than 60 daysold. The penalty is supported by state law.

The board also discussed allowing the company to pursue oldCircuit Court fines and overdue ad valorem taxes, where thousandsof additional dollars are owed to the county. Supervisors decidedto wait and see how well the company performs on the Justice Courtfines before granting that authority.

Newman’s company will report to the board monthly on itsprogress. The board will review the progress after six months todetermine whether the firm will continue with private collections,Bishop said.

In other matters, the board rejected a tractor bid from FarmbeltEquipment Inc., of Brookhaven, in favor of a higher bid from CraneTractor and Equipment Inc., of Columbia.

District One Supervisor the Rev. Jerry Wilson had advertised fora tractor with boom mower to cut grass along county roads. Thecounty received three bids, but the lowest bid, offered by FarmbeltEquipment, was rejected for failure to meet the specifications ofthe tractor as advertised.

The $57,512 Farmbelt Equipment offer was for a 104 horsepowerKubota tractor with a 93 power take off rating.

The advertisement specifications for a 115 horsepower tractorwith a PTO of 95 are identical to the model of a New Hollandtractor favored by Wilson.

Crane Tractor offered that model New Holland tractor with a bidof $64,970.

Buddy Russell, a salesperson with Farmbelt Equipment, argued infavor of his bid.

“We were just concerned that the bid was restrictive,” he said.”No other tractor could go head-to-head with those specifications.We offered our equivalent of that tractor.”

A lengthy discussion of the bid process and the way designspecifications are determined followed. Wilson ended the discussionby making a motion to purchase the Crane tractor.

Wilson said his men liked the New Holland tractor they wereworking with now and he wanted to keep his men happy.