Last year, at the urging of Mayor Kamal Johnson, the City initiated an amnesty program for people with parking tickets that had gone unpaid for a long time and had accrued substantial penalties. From October 1 through December 31, 2023, people with parking tickets that had gone unpaid for more than three years and whose cars had not yet been booted could clear their record with the Parking Bureau by paying only the original fines. Years of penalties and late fees would be waived. By this action, the City hoped to recoup a significant sum of money in unpaid parking fines. I recall $100,000 being mentioned as an anticipated amount.
It's been six weeks since the amnesty program ended, so I decided to check on its success. According to information received from city clerk Tracy Delaney, only three people took advantage of the amnesty program. A total of $391 in penalties was waived. Two of three have paid their original fines, for a total of $46. As of February 5, 2024, the third person, whose original fines totaled $55, has still not paid those fines.
COPYRIGHT 2024 CAROLE OSTERINK
Carole -- Maybe you can get a comment from our mayor about this miserably failed idea of his to "give back to the community." Ask him how much time he spent on it and whether he has learned anything from his mistake and waste of time and money.
ReplyDeleteWhat an embarrassment!
We will try again when our new software allows for online payments.
ReplyDeleteHow about, instead of trying a failed approach of the carrot, we use the stick? Forward to the DMV and suspend registrations. We tried being lenient and unfortunately it doesn't work. Our sidewalks are another example of this experiment in non-enforcement.
DeleteShouldn't the new software have been installed BEFORE the program started so that people could pay online, not after? Asking for a friend.
ReplyDelete