The Local TV Station got a hold of the outstanding parking ticket database and found that $1.3 million in tickets are outstanding. And that's only the money from people that have 7 or more outstanding. They spoke to the folks in power there and find that basically there is no teeth in their laws either. A quote from the report – A reporter speaking to a local parking official:
… it seems to me like the gloves are kind of on here. The gloves haven't really come off yet in terms of you guys really getting tough with ticket scofflaws. Think about it. They don't have to worry about a cop coming to their house. They don't have to worry about their credit rating getting ruined by this thing. All they really have to worry about is your one boot truck. That's it
And:
So the only enforcement tool the parking authority is using is the Denver boot. But unless you have at least five unpaid parking tickets within an 18-month period, officials are not allowed by law to use the boot on your car
I wonder what those enforcement trucks (Video patrols connected to a parking citation database) cost? Surely, you could pick up a couple of more for less than $1.3 mil. According to the folks involved in parking enforcement in Pittsburgh they work great when they find a scofflaw. When they find one and boot the car – the owner must pay all outstanding tickets plus a $300 fee. If they only found five a day, that's $1500 in income and that would pay for the truck and the driver, wouldn't it?
JVH
