It’s Christmas in January for Some Illegal Parkers

The Santa Monica and Beverly Hills municipal courts are giving delinquent parking violators a belated Christmas gift: no late penalty if the tickets are paid before Feb. 28.

City officials from Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood--which uses the Beverly Hills court--persuaded the presiding judges of the two courts to approve the amnesty program. Officials hope the program will clear out a backlog of more than 400,000 outstanding parking tickets issued in the three cities, each aggressive in parking enforcement.

Clearing the paper work could also provide a financial windfall for the cities. If all the outstanding tickets were paid, Santa Monica would collect $4 million, Beverly Hills $1.85 million, and West Hollywood $2 million. Each city keeps 85% to 90% of the amount collected, with the county keeping the balance.

No one expects all the late tickets to be paid, city officials said. But if only 5% of the fines are collected in Santa Monica, for example, it would bring in $200,000.

Santa Monica officials are trying to make up for about $110,000 that was refunded to about 3,000 motorists last year after officials discovered a mix-up over vehicle descriptions.

The three cities involved in the amnesty program are setting up a joint database to provide better access to information about repeat offenders in their jurisdictions. New computerized equipment allows parking enforcement officers to identify such vehicles in the field.

Under local laws, vehicles with five or more outstanding citations can be towed or immobilized with a device similar to the Denver Boot, which is locked onto a tire to prevent the vehicle from moving. In addition, the state Department of Motor Vehicles can delay registration renewals for vehicles with that many unpaid tickets.

The cities are sending letters to motorists with five or more outstanding tickets notifying them of the amnesty program. The waiver does not apply to delinquent tickets already paid or to any vehicle already towed or immobilized.