City raises parking fines, tightens payment window

Students attempting to forego a parking permit this year will face higher fines than last year after the city council approved a raise for common parking violations in July.\nThe Bloomington Common Council passed the ordinance at the July 30 meeting, raising the fines for common violations such as expired meters or parking without the correct permit in zoned areas. This increase is the first since three years ago when fines were doubled from $6 to $12.\nJack Davis, manager of Parking Enforcement for Bloomington, said the cost for a parking violation will rise to $17 within the next month. If the ticket isn't paid within seven calendar days, the fine escalates to $30. Currently, the cost of a ticket is $12 and it increases to $17 if not paid within the week.\nBloomington Deputy Mayor James McNamara expects to bring in an extra $130,000 per year, with the revenue going "toward parking-related expenses, such as lease purchase payments on new parking garages and parking enforcement operations."\nCity expenses have increased over the past few years with the construction of two parking garages along Sixth Street.\nLast December, the city also approved a measure to increase parking fees for meters and leased parking spots.\nWhile some will grumble at the higher fines, many will rejoice since more revenue through parking violations means less taxpayer dollars needed for the department.\n"It makes sense to use parking-related revenues for parking-related expenses," McNamara said.\nCouncil member Anthony Pizzo pointed out Bloomington's parking tickets are considerably lower in price than IU's.\n"We're following what the University does, but we don't charge as much as the University," Pizzo said. "We've been doing it that way for years."\nSome students said they felt the sudden increase in ticket fines to be unfair.\nSenior Dan Keeler said while the cost was cheaper than IU parking tickets, the rise in fines after one week is excessive.\n"Bloomington's are a lot more reasonable then the campus tickets, which are now $40 per ticket," Keeler said. "Nearly doubling the price of a parking ticket, from $17 to $30 is ludicrous." \nJunior Adam White agreed but said having one week to pay the initial ticket is not enough time.\n"It's kind of a large increase over a week," White said. "You should have at least a few weeks to pay the ticket. They should give more time since even with a traffic ticket, most of us don't get around to paying it within the first week"