§ 101.107.Payment and Collection of Judgment

The collection provision, and it confirms that winning is not the same as being paid.

A judgment may be enforced only in the same manner and to the same extent as other judgments against the governmental unit are enforceable as provided by law — unless the unit has liability or indemnity insurance, in which case the judgment holder may collect to the extent of the insurer's liability as the policy or law provides.

The ordinary tools of enforcement are largely unavailable. Public property and public funds are generally not subject to execution, so a judgment creditor cannot levy on a fire station or garnish a city account. Where insurance exists, the policy is the practical source of payment.

Subsection (b) defers payment. A judgment not payable by an insurer need not be paid until the first fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the judgment becomes final. Governmental units budget annually, and the section gives them a budget cycle to provide for it.

Subsection (c) permits installments in a bad year. If in a fiscal year the aggregate of final judgments against a unit — excluding amounts payable by an insurer — exceeds one percent of the unit's budgeted tax funds for that year, excluding general obligation debt service, the unit may pay in equal annual installments over not more than five years, with interest on the unpaid balance at the statutory rate.

The one percent threshold is the trigger, and it is a low one for a small district. A claimant with a substantial judgment against a modest governmental unit may be paid over five years, with interest.