Beverly Hills-Malibu : Parking Fine Collections

Rushing to beat a July 1 deadline, the cities of Beverly Hills and Malibu have agreed to hire private firms to process their parking fines.

Under a new state law that takes effect next month, citations for parking violations will no longer be handled by municipal courts. The law transfers responsibility for processing fines and hearing appeals to cities and counties.

In recent months, local governments statewide have been setting up systems for assuming the responsibility. Some cities, including Santa Monica and Culver City, have used the new law as an opportunity to increase fines sharply to generate revenue. Beverly Hills fines will not change, however, and Malibu has not yet approved a fine schedule for parking violations.

City Manager David Carmany said Malibu will join four other Los Angeles County cities in hiring a Tustin firm, Enforcement Technology Inc., to process parking citations. He said the cities will meet this week to discuss setting a common schedule of fines.

Carmany said the city issues about 7,000 tickets annually and expects the new system to bring in new revenue, but no estimates are available.

Beverly Hills agreed Tuesday to join the cities of Santa Monica, West Hollywood and Culver City in setting a common schedule of fines and hiring Turbo Data Systems Inc., also of Tustin, to handle the administration of the program.