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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA002 - Newspaper article about increased fines Mid-Iowa Newspapers - HOME - 07/12/2007 - Downtown parking fines to rise Page 1 of 1 Midwlowa News " s 07/12/2007 Downtown parking fines to rise By:Luke Jennett Due to a running loss in revenues from city parking tickets,Ames will bump up the cost of overtime parking tickets starting Monday,July 16. Overtime tickets are currently$3 initially,$5 after seven days,and$10 after 30 days.They will go up to$5 initially and$10 after seven days. City officials also announced Wednesday that a$5 fee will be added to each ticket sent to a collection agency.And the fee structures for both overtime and illegal parking will be changed. Illegal parking,which is currently a$10 initially and$15 after 30 days,has been By Luke Jennett/The Tribune adjusted in time frame rather than cost.The$10 fine will go up to$15 after only Parking meters are shown in downtown Ames. seven days. The city announced a rise in the cost of overtime parking tickets,starting Monday,July 16. Ames Police Chief Chuck Cychosz said that,after years of increased expenses to maintain the parking system and no increase in fees,the city is paying more for operations,maintenance and enforcement than it is making. "We were not running at a deficit,"he said."There was some extra balance in that fund,but that balance was diminishing pretty quickly." A committee was formed to study the problem,and the final recommendation was approved by the Ames City Council in the spring as part of the budget for the current fiscal year. The change was originally slated to begin July 1. Cychosz noted that there will be no increases in meter fees or monthly rental rates. "People who follow the rules should not be affected at all,"he said. The changes are largely directed at those who don't pay their fines,forcing the city to take action to collect the fees,he said. "It's part of the collections enforcement that's not keeping pace,"Cychosz said."We tried to keep it so the folks who don't comply,who don't pay on time,would pay their fair share,rather than subsidizing it to those who pay right away." The change in the time it takes for the fine from a parking ticket to go up is meant to offset the costly practice of collecting on those who don't pay right away,said City Finance Director Duane Pitcher. Although figures from the current year haven't yet been closed out,he said,it's estimated that revenues from the parking fund will be about$100,000 less than expenses.The city,he said,is estimating that it will gain a combined revenue increase from the changes of about that amount.While the amount of reduced expenses has not been forecast,Pitcher said,its thought that the new measures will be enough to even the scales. "It should more or less bring us back to breaking even,"he said. Luke Jennett can be reached at 232-2161,Ext.343,or ljennett@amestrib.com. ©Mid-Iowa Newspapers 2008 http://www.midiowanews.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2700&dept_id=5 54188&new... 6/13/2008 7.71Y� t._ctiva. i.V W G V C., �.au... • ��� says the ci}y h_as faj,,cd meet the demands and must increase rates to fund a new position and new programs within the department. The storm sewer utility rate will increase 16 percent to $2.60 per month per customer. The new position created is a storm water technician. The new programs are called rain gardens. The city will construct some rain gardens and buffer strips to show their benefits and provide grants to property owners to build their own rain gardens. Overtime parking fines will ' increase from$3 to$5. Illegal parking fines will remain at $10. But after seven days they will increase to $15 instead of waiting 30 days for the in- crease to occur, which is the current policy. These parking fine changes will bring an ad- ditional$68,000 to the city. Throughout the rest of his letter of introduction to the 2007-2003 budget, Schainker outlines several new posi- tions added to the city staff. For example, growth in the Personal services section of the "Fire - Building Safety" Portion of the budget on page 64 jumps 34 percent from last Year's budget to the new draft