Delay In Increased Parking Fines Cost Baltimore Nearly $500,000
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Because Baltimore has yet to implement increased parking fines, the city has missed out on taking in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
According to our media partners at The Baltimore Sun, Mayor Catherine Pugh signed a law to increase the fine for parking in a bus lane or in front of a bus stop from $75 to $250 beginning September 1. However, city officials were not able to update their paper or electronic citations to reflect the higher fine until after Christmas.
Because of the delay, more than 2,500 tickets read the old, lower fine, losing the city more than $465,00 in fines. A law that increased fines for parking in a bike lane by the same amount has also taken more than two months to implement. For this law, the city missed out on taking in more than $4,000.
City Councilman Ryan Dorsey, the lead sponsor of the bus lane bill, said his intent in filing the bill was to dissuade drivers from slowing down the city's public transportation systems. He says the delay in levying the increased fine means the intended deterrent has not been working.
The increased fine come after Mayor Pugh announced an amnesty program forgiving late fees on outstanding parking fines in Baltimore. This means if people with unpaid parking tickets pay the base fine on February 1 or 2, late fees and other additional charges will be waived.
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