OXFORD – The town, which has around $17,000 in uncollected debts for ambulance service, may use a collection agency to get some of its money back.

The town has typically written these debts off in the past after they were a year old, said Town Finance Director Sharon Jackson.

The current debts are between six and 12 months old, and represent accounts with no insurance or balances due after insurance has paid its portion.

“Historically, accounts that have not been paid in the first six months of billing are not paid,” Jackson said in a memo to Town Manager Mike Huston.

Medical Reimbursement Services, which handles the ambulance billing for the town, could continue trying to collect, “although it would probably be futile,” Huston said in a memo to selectmen.

“It’s tough,” said Selectmen Chairman David Ivey on Monday. A good deal of the debt represents people who have no insurance and few assets, and end up being transported and or treated without payment.

Huston suggested, and selectmen agreed, to look into hiring a law firm that specializes in collections. Ivey said that since such collections are done on a percentage basis, the town would only receive around 50 percent of the collections made.

In other business, on Thursday selectmen also set a Sept. 18 public hearing on proposed cemetery rules, which would apply to all cemeteries in town. The Cemetery Committee said it would be in the town’s best interest would be served if there were uniformity regarding cemetery rules.

Among other things, the rules would require a general cleanup at least once a year and require that flowers left at a grave site be loose or in unbreakable containers. Fees for cemetery plots would be $150 per lot.

Selectmen also accepted a check for $500 from the Thompson Lake Environmental Association and agreed to place the money in the general fund.

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