Milwaukee parking ticket offenders; city leaders propose vehicle impound

Proposal to impound vehicles when parking tickets unpaid

People who fail to pay for their parking tickets in Milwaukee could get their vehicles impounded.

MILWAUKEE - A warning to thousands of people who have not paid Milwaukee parking tickets. The Common Council is considering a proposal to impound vehicles for repeat offenders until they pay all of their fines. 

Parking ticket change

What we know:

The city's innovation director said 39,000 license plates have five or more unpaid parking tickets. All of that would bring the city roughly $16 million.

Right now, when someone has unpaid parking tickets and they are caught parking illegally, the city will tow them. 

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The catch right now is they can get their car back when they pay the tow fee and daily storage fee – even if they do not pay the tickets. 

The new proposal would require the person to pay the tow fee, storage fee and pay all of the tickets. 

What they're saying:

"We wanted to look at and say, "Can we build this mousetrap better? Can we do this in a way that’s transparent and accountable?' We’re working with individuals to better educate them to try to prevent tows in the first place and avoid the unnecessary cost," said James Bohl, Milwaukee Director of Innovation. 

Milwaukee's Public Safety Committee approved the proposal on Thursday, July 24. 

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The full Common Council and the mayor need to approve the change.