Collection Agency Called Upon To Get Parking Fines
It appears like the people of Richmond County are sticking it to the man and refusing to pay up when it comes to parking ticket fines. In 2009, 569 of 1,377 tickets, about 41 percent were actually paid. In 2008, about 38 percent were paid. At 20 dollars a ticket, that totals up to $37,180 in unpaid fines in two years.
“I’m sure people have got to know they can get away with not paying parking tickets,” one aggravated officer said. “There’s absolutely nothing I can do with that.”
And yes, trying to enforce parking ticket payments is not easy when there is no Municipal Court. Since there is a not an arena for people to fight the tickets, there is little to no room for mediation. Ironically, the Municipal Court was eliminated after city and county consolidation in 1996.
According to the City Administrator, the county has thought about the issue of getting the fines but decided the cost and effort of retrieving the money essentially won’t be worth the costs. The County is unaware of just how many fines have added up since the government consolidation, because the police’s computerized records do not reach back that far. Although officials are starting to realize that it might be time for the violations to be enforced, it so happens that police officers make bad bill collectors.
In 1995, in the middle of a budget crisis, they tried to raise $300,000 by mailing violators who had not paid letters threatening jail time for unpaid fines. Only $30,000 was collected by the end of 1996.
There has been a new enforcement policy that was thought of. New sensors would help find cars who have overstayed their meter limits. The new plan would also include some type of mediation system, and unpaid fines would be turned over to a debt collection company, which just goes to show you that bill collectors may be more terrifying than an angry cop.
Mallory Megan works for a debt collection company. Also she composes stories on business and finance, consumer spending and collection agencies.