The efforts by the city teasurer's office to update the per capita tax list is laudable.

Although the money that the update will bring into the city's coffers can't be classified as a windfall, every dollar counts.

If it helps the city buy materials for such worthy efforts as pothole patching or anti-skid materials — or even office supplies for the City Building — it represents an effort well worth the time and energy expended.

But amid the positive news is a question not so positive:

How much has the city lost during, for example, the last five years because not enough pressure was put on landlords to keep the city updated on tenants moving in and out of their properties?

By law, landlords are required to report movement in or out by tenants within 30 days, but many clearly have not been performing that obligation.

Now or in the future, a few well-publicized fines might provide incentive for fuller compliance.

In January, Treasurer Jon Campbell announced that his office would pursue 294 landlords who at that time were in violation of the city's per capita tax ordinance.

Campbell was quoted in Monday's Butler Eagle as saying, "We have added 350 citizens to our rolls as a direct result of these landlords reporting in."

He also said, "We have had about 50 to 60 percent of the landlords respond, but about 80 to 90 percent of the (multiple-property owners) have responded."

Campbell, who was appointed treasurer in October, said the treasurer's office would "continue to do this until we get it up to snuff."

Not enough. The city should continue to monitor the situation closely as long as there is a per capita tax.

It's understandable that some tenants moving into apartments in the city might not be aware of the tax laws. Part of landlords' responsibility is to apprise tenants of the per capita levy and advise the tenants that their names would be submitted to the treasurer's office, as required by law, within the required window of time.

At the time that tax information is provided to the tenants, it is appropriate for landlords to let tenants know that landlords face a fine for failure to exercise their responsibility.

With full cooperation from landlords, per capita tax collection can approach 100 percent. But the situation will require nonstop vigilance.

That nonstop vigilance obviously hasn't prevailed in the past — indeed, that a serious lapse has occurred — should be a source of concern and anger to residents who routinely pay all of their taxes and who have, over the past decade, watched their city grapple with serious financial challenges.

Several thousand dollars might not seem like much in the city's overall spending, but it is nothing to be pooh-poohed.

To their credit, Campbell and his staff are on the right path.

The city never should need a tax crackdown if it properly monitors tax collection on a day-to-day basis.