WANNA BEAT CHICAGO PARKING METER VIOLATION CITATIONS? Fight ‘Em!
WANNA BEAT CHICAGO PARKING METER VIOLATION CITATIONS? Fight ‘Em!
NUMBER OF PARKING VIOLATIONS SKYROCKET BUT THOSE WHO APPEAR TO CONTEST CITATIONS OFTEN BEAT THE RAP!
If you live in or near Chicago you know how to raise the ire of those who drive quite a bit within the city.
Simply say the words "Parking Meter Fees"! You will get a negative reaction I guarantee it!
From nearly the day the City of Chicago privatized its 36000 parking meters last January quadrupling rates and stepping up enforcement everyone from Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to City Inspector General David Hoffman to many individual alderman and ordinary Chicago drivers and commuters have skewered the 75-year meter lease to LAZ Parking Systems of Hartford CT.
LAZ Parking gets to keep all the money collected in the meters. The city gets the money from the parking fines. LAZ paid the City of Chicago $1.15 Billion up-front for the 75-year meter lease.
However the new Parking Meter Management Company has been unable to repair meters now fed to overcapacity as many neighborhood spaces now require four quarters to park for one hour up from the old long-time rate of 25 cents per hour. Many of the new "Pay & Display" machines which dispense a timed ticket for windshield display in return for payment in coins paper currency or plastic form have routinely malfunctioned causing a temporary moratorium of parking space enforcement in The Chicago Loop one day last week.
Meter Enforcement is now a seven-day-a-week endeavor including Sundays and Legal Holidays. Many metered spaces are enforced until 9 each evening – many even later! And fines for overtime parking – a stiff $50 escalating quickly if unpaid.
In fact some parked vehicles are charged without even a ticket being affixed to the driver’s windshield. Some Meter Enforcement Personnel are simply recording the violators’ license plate numbers with those drivers very surprised to receive a violation notice and fine in the mail several weeks later.
But for some frustrated drivers – those who feel they have been cited without violating the law – taking the time to visit a Chicago Administrative Hearing Center to contest the violation will likely pay off! This despite the fact that these Hearing Courts are understaffed and an appearance before a Hearing Officer can burn several hours of one’s workday.
As reported by Jon Hilkevitch in today’s Chicago Tribune a Freedom of Information Act Request made by the newspaper revealed that parking meter violations have jumped 13% so far this year as compared to the same period in 2008. In all 161000 meter enforcement tickets were issued to Chicago Parkers in through the first three months of 2009. These issued tickets if paid represent roughly $8 Million Dollars in revenue to the city.
However of the 6196 tickets that were contested in person between January and March 2009 nearly 75% – 4459 – were thrown out. Chicago Hearing Officers found the issued tickets often contained errors or the drivers were otherwise not liable. Many tickets issued contained the wrong meter number the wrong time or date or were often issued after the daily enforcement period ended. Only about 25% of the tickets were upheld in the hearing – 1737 tickets in total.
Stepped-up parking enforcement is seen by the mayor and other city officials as an easy way of boosting city revenue at a time when major budget gaps threaten some city services. Many drivers observe however that many are avoiding metered spaces due to the far higher meter rates and instead park their cars on neighboring Chicago Residential Streets where parking is free – all day all night.
The jury on the new Chicago Parking Meter Enforcement System seems to be forming a decision perhaps on the side of drivers and against the meter management company. Keep an eye on Chicago Politics and see if a meaningful change or stepped-up accountability of the Meter Management Company is on the horizon.
DEAN MOSS & DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO
