The Bay Area is known for its progressive values. We view ourselves as committed to ensuring everyone, regardless of race or ethnicity, is safe, economically secure and able to reach their full potential.

In line with these values, San Francisco recently took a groundbreaking step forward by eliminating administrative criminal justice fees that are largely uncollectable and cause undue harm to communities of color and low-income communities.

It’s time for Alameda County to step up and do the same.

Charged to people who have already paid their debt to society, criminal justice administrative fees serve no formal punitive function and are often assigned to people who simply cannot afford to pay them.

In Alameda County, there is an outstanding debt of over $21 million owed by more than 35,000 individuals. The fees range from charging $450 to people who used a public defender for motions, trials or other evidentiary proceedings for a misdemeanor case, to fees for probation supervision, for example, which are $90 a month, or $6,100 for the average probationer per case.

Such crippling fees force families who are already financially stressed to make untenable choices between paying court-ordered fees or covering basic expenses, like feeding their children. They therefore often end up with insurmountable, uncollectable debt.

For these reasons, on Sept. 13, the Public Protection Committee of the Alameda Board of Supervisors heard testimony from the Probation Department, Public Defender’s Office, Sheriff’s Office, and advocates and community members on the unjust nature of these fees.

They are intended not to administer justice, but to raise revenue, primarily on the backs of low-income communities of color. Black and Latino communities comprise about 12 percent and 22 percent of Alameda County’s population, respectively. But, according to Alameda County’s Probation Department, they make up a staggering 70 percent of the county’s probation population. Make no mistake: This is due to over-policing in communities of color and racial bias in the criminal justice system.

To compound the situation, black and Latino communities already face substantial barriers to leading financially secure lives. According to new data from the Insight Center’s California Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard, a measure that tracks the minimum income necessary to cover a family’s basic expenses, 53 percent of Alameda’s black households and 51 percent of Latino households live below the standard. This means they are struggling to make enough money to afford their essential needs, like keeping a roof over their heads and paying their bills.

Eliminating criminal justice fees would have a major impact on Alameda County’s black and Latino populations. An unimaginable expense for these families living below the standard, these fees ensnare people in debt, and undermine the financial stability of individuals and families, particularly black and Latino families.

On Oct. 23, the full Board of Supervisors will vote on the recommendation by the Public Protection Committee to repeal criminal justice administrative fees in Alameda County, end their collection, and discharge the over $21 million in past debt.

The board will have the opportunity to make an important change for Alameda County families. Let’s hope they make the right decision to end the unjust and racially disproportionate collections practices.

Jhumpa Bhattacharya is vice president of programs and strategy at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development in Oakland. Theresa Zhen is staff attorney/clinical supervisor, clean slate practice at the East Bay Community Law Center in Berkeley.