GLENDALE : Amnesty Program for Parking Tickets OKd

That old parking ticket crumpled up under your passenger seat can now be paid at its original fine, without penalties, through a one-time amnesty program approved by the Glendale City Council this week.

The program allows those who were cited on or before April 30 to pay for parking tickets, some of which have doubled or tripled, to the city for $25 before Aug. 31 and $30 before Sept. 30.

If parking violators fail to answer the city’s amnesty letter by Oct. 1, the tickets will return to the higher fines and penalties. Motorists will then answer to the state Department of Motor Vehicles, which requires payment of overdue tickets before a driver can register a vehicle again.

Police Chief James Anthony recommended that the council initiate the amnesty program to clear up a backlog of unpaid tickets that occurred after the city took over collection of parking citations from the county 18 months ago.

In most cases, the driver has ignored the original ticket and a subsequent notice warning the motorist to pay or face penalties that are added to the original fine and accrue over time. Parking citations are delinquent if they are not paid within 30 days of the date issued.

The Police Department issues between 70,000 and 110,000 parking tickets each year--20,000 to 30,000 of which are never paid by violators, representing a loss of almost $500,000 to the city in uncollected penalties, according to a report written by Police Lt. Ray Edey.

Almost 30% of the parking tickets issued in Glendale in the last 18 months--about 30,000 citations--have not been paid, with most maturing to a fine of more than $60, police said.

A majority of the unpaid citations are for meter violations that have an $18 fine, parking in a no-parking zone, which carries a $30 fine, and parking for too long in a limited time zone, which has a base fine of $25, Edey said.

Officials estimate the amnesty program will cost the city $4,100 in printing and postage fees. The city expects to collect anywhere from $50,000 to $400,000 from those who take advantage of the one-time offer to pay up.

Overdue fines collected will go into the parking fund to be used to pay salaries for traffic engineers and to support programs that include parking lot maintenance.