Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

$8 million in local tickets

CARSON CITY -- Unpaid parking tickets in Las Vegas amount to $8 million, and government officials aim to recover the money when scofflaws register their cars.

In one case, a motorist owes $10,000 for numerous citations for parking in fire lanes. In scores of others, drivers owe as much as $3,000 for parking at time-expired meters.

State and local governments intend to have the car-registration collection plan in effect by July 1.

"Some people are going to be shocked when they get the bill for their registration," said Debra Pieruschka, an administrative assistant for the city of Las Vegas who is in charge of collecting parking fines.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety is having a public hearing at 9:30 a.m. Friday at the Sawyer State Office Building to start designing the collection system.

The 1995 Legislature, at the request of cities, enacted a law that prohibits motorists from renewing their registrations unless all parking tickets are paid.

Donna Wadey-Howell, chief of registration for the state agency, said Tuesday the meeting this week is to gather information from the courts and those who collect the parking ticket fines. From this, the agency will put together its system.

If this program works, Wadey-Howell said the Legislature may expand the program to collect unpaid tickets for moving violations.

Pieruschka says the delinquency rate for paying parking tickets is 35 percent. In October, it got a collection agency to try to make the collections.

Las Vegas and Reno first pushed this project but other governments realized it would mean big bucks and Pieruschka said this "has gotten to be a large project."

Reno City Clerk Don Cook estimates it collects 77 percent of the parking fine revenue. This program could mean an estimated $300,000 a year for the city.

In one case, a motorist had 100 tickets with fines totaling $3,000.

Reno uses the "boot" to nab those with more than five unpaid parking tickets. Those people who hand out the citations carry a "hot list" of those delinquent motorists. And when they find a vehicle, they call the company that attaches the boot that immobilizes the car.

Under the new system, local governments will send lists of people who haven't paid their parking tickets to the state. When their registrations come due, the drivers will have to pay the fines, along with a $10 administrative fee, in addition to their registration fee. Once the state gets the fine money, it will send it back to the local government.

Pieruschka said it hasn't been decided yet how far back the city can go to collect this money. She said the city attorney's office has been asked to check into that question.

In Las Vegas, an overtime meter violation calls for a $20 fine, which is reduced to $10 if paid within 15 calendar days. If the fine is not paid within 30 days after the violation, it goes to $40, and if unpaid after 45 more days, it goes to a maximum of $60.

With this tougher enforcement program coming on line, Pieruschka hopes those with overdue fines will pay before July 1. The city of Las Vegas issues about 100,000 parking tickets a year.

There's an escape clause for car rental agencies whose vehicles may be ticketed when driven by visitors. It requires these agencies to provide information to the local government on the person who had leased the car at the time the ticket was received.

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