The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Board of Trustees decided to write off $733,950.84 in 5-year-old fines, according to board officials.
The trustees made the decision about fines from 2000 at a regular board meeting Thursday night at the West Las Vegas Library branch, said Elaine Sanchez, chairwoman of the board.
For the past five years, library officials have sent notices to patrons with fines, sent the overdue bills to a collection agency and offered amnesty to those who racked up the fines, said Robb Morss, deputy director of the library district.
Such purging of old fines is a common business practice, Morss said.
"This is just basically a way to clear up the records," Morss said.
The board took the same action last year for fines of $704,000 for the year 1999, he said.
However, library patrons with fines totaling over $300 will have their accounts tagged, Morss said.
Then if they should try to get a new library card or check a book out, they will be stopped until they pay their fines, he said.
Morss said some 300 patrons are carrying fines of more than $300.
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