Hermosa Quick to Levy Parking Fines, Slow to Pay County, Audit Says

The city of Hermosa Beach, notorious for its aggressive parking enforcement, has for six years underestimated the county’s share of parking ticket revenues and owes the county more than $100,000, a recent audit shows.

Marion Romeis, principal accountant-auditor at the Los Angeles County auditor-controller’s office, said Friday that of the 16 cities audited during the three-month review, Hermosa Beach was the most in arrears.

With a debt of $104,305, she said, “Hermosa was the biggest chunk” of the $162,806 owed the county overall.

But City Manager Kevin Northcraft said the city, which nets about $2.5 million a year in revenue from parking tickets, will not pay the money until after the county supplies supporting documentation of its findings and the audit is reviewed by the city attorney.

At issue is the county’s $3-a-ticket share of each $18 parking citation paid in Hermosa Beach. The money goes into two construction funds used to build and refurbish courthouses and other county facilities.

Most of that money, Northcraft said, is automatically channeled to the county by the city clerk, who collects fines that are paid on time. But when violators send the money for old, overdue tickets to a third party such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, the city isn’t always sure, when the money is forwarded, whether the county’s cut has been taken out, Northcraft said.

Romeis said that the confusion has been common in other cities but that it has been particularly pronounced in Hermosa Beach, which in recent years has neglected to forward the county’s share of money forwarded from the DMV.

Bellflower, the city with the second-largest debt, owes $24,993, she said. Lawndale came in third, owing $22,386, followed by Gardena ($4,867), Compton ($4,026), Glendora ($1,341) and Lakewood ($888).

Bell Gardens, Hawaiian Gardens, Huntington Park, Los Angeles and Torrance were found to be current, Romeis said, while four other cities had overpaid.

The county, she said, owes Southgate $28,647, Carson $21,639, Covina $11,319 and Vernon $2,301.