OUR $40M FINE MESS

UNPAID FINES: Warrants on over 16,000 Geelong residents

GEELONG residents are being chased for almost $40 million in unpaid fines, figures show.

Data from the Department of Justice and Community Safety has revealed 16,666 City of Greater Geelong residents owed $39.7 million at May 31, with all fines having progressed to the warrant stage.

Many of those being chased to pay their fines have multiple warrants outstanding, with about 86,000 warrants owing by the 16,666 — an average of more than five warrants per person.

And about 5000 residents of surrounding municipalities — including the Surf Coast, Queenscliffe. Golden Plains and Colac Otway — owe a further $9.76 million.

Across the region, Geelong residents’ average warrant cost is the highest at $2384, followed by residents of the Golden Plains Shire ($2344), Surf Coast Shire ($1963), Colac Otway Shire ($1957) and Queenscliffe ($1783).

“It is important for all Victorians to understand that fines and warrants do not expire and that outstanding warrants can have serious consequences,” a Department of Justice and Community Safety spokeswoman said.

“If you are having trouble paying a fine, we encourage you to contact the Fines Victoria customer care team on 9200 8111 or 1300 369 819.”

The City of Greater Geelong has also recorded an increase in unpaid infringements, with $11.25 million owed to the city at the end of last month.

The city’s unpaid infringements had jumped by almost 10 per cent over the past year, with $10.4 million owed at the end of May 2019.

A breakdown of the city’s unpaid infringements show the majority related to parking fines ($8,932,379), following by infringements relating to animals ($1,566,563), fire ($737,380), public health ($11,784) and local laws ($2876).

The volume of parking fines in the city may be lower than expected, following the introduction of free CBD parking from March to June 30, as part of the a councilsupported coronavirus support package.

“In response to the impacts of COVID-19, City officers have applied a level of discretion and special consideration in issuing infringement notices,” Geelong director of customer and corporate services Michael Dugina said.

“Parking patrols, in particular, have focused on unsafe practices, or parking that denies access to specially designated parking areas, such as loading zones and disabled carparks.

“The city has also stopped referring outstanding debts for debt collection and is waiving interest on all debts from March 14 until October 31, 2020.”