Unpaid Parking Tickets Targeted

There are more than 1 million reasons for city officials to hire a collection agency to go after 12,000 people who have not paid their parking tickets.

Between 10% and 15% of the parking tickets issued by city traffic officers go unpaid each year, and over the past six years that amounts to more than $1 million, officials say.

The city has hired Collectech Systems, a Westlake Village company, to recoup the money. The company, which handles collections for 52 cities in California, will send notification letters for nearly 12,000 outstanding parking tickets in Ventura, some dating to 1995.

The letters, to be mailed over the next several months, will inform violators that an unpaid ticket could be reported to credit-rating services as unpaid debts, said Lt. Don Arth of the Police Department’s Traffic Division.

Ventura is taking a kid-glove approach compared with some cities.

In parts of Los Angeles County, a “boot” is clamped onto the front wheel of cars if a background check shows outstanding tickets.

Some cities report unpaid tickets to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which tacks the fines onto yearly registration fees.

Arth said Ventura has tried that method, but he said the fees drop off the DMV record after two years, so the system is not practical for long-term collections.

The city will pay Collectech $5 for each ticket it processes, whether or not the fine is collected.

City officials expect to recoup 35% to 45% of the unpaid tickets, minus Collectech’s fee, which would total $300,000.