Parking Fines Will Be Seized From Tax Refunds

Officials in Inglewood have a message for people with outstanding parking tickets: Pay up or we’ll take it out of your taxes.

In what is a first for a California city, Inglewood is taking advantage of new legislation that allows municipalities to have the state Franchise Tax Board deduct unpaid parking fines from state tax refund checks.

“What we want to establish out there is the attitude that if you get (a ticket), you have to pay it,” said James R. Nyman, head of the city’s computer information network.

To initiate the program, city computers sorted through the names of 4,000 delinquent violators and came up with a list of 743 people who had at least five tickets and owed $350 or more in fines. Nyman said the city should recover $60,000 from these people this year--either by forcing them to step forward to pay their fines or by deducting what they owe from tax refunds.

“This year we’re only sending out (notices) to the worst offenders,” Nyman said. “Our intention is not to get a person with just a stray ticket.”