Milwaukee unpaid parking ticket crackdown, $1M of fines paid

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee's Department of Public Works has collected roughly $1 million in parking fines since a new ordinance aimed at cracking down on habitual violators took effect earlier this year.

By the numbers:

The ordinance defines habitual violators as anyone with five or more unpaid tickets that are at least 60 days past due. Drivers who fail to either pay or set up a payment plan risk having their cars towed and impounded.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android

DPW said roughly 20,000 citations have been paid since the towing enforcement aspect of the ordinance began Jan. 1. Almost half of the identified habitual violators have set up court dates to address unpaid tickets.

"The goal of this wasn't just to collect outstanding tickets, although that's a worthy goal in itself," Ald. Scott Spiker, who spearheaded the initiative, reiterated Thursday. "It was to make sure people don't let things get that far, don't let things get to the point where they're towed, because that is far more costly in terms of both money and time than just getting on a payment plan."

The ordinance also states vehicles can be towed if they are illegally parked. The DPW said nearly 2,200 vehicles have been towed through May 15.

Under the previous system, drivers only had to pay the tow fee to retrieve their vehicle. Now, they must either pay their outstanding citations at the tow lot or schedule a court date before their vehicle is released.

Last year, Spoke estimated the city was short more than $17 million in uncollected parking citations tied to an estimated 39,000 vehicles.

MilwaukeeNews