Parking fines may be on the rise

City council is asking administration to examine the present fee structure for parking violation fines and return with a schedule to help offset costs in the operation of parking activities.

Council unanimously passed an official business motion by Councillor John Middleton-Hope on the matter Tuesday. The subject will also be addressed during November budget deliberations.

The motion states that parking fees haven’t increased since 2012 and fines here are among the lowest in comparable municipalities in the province.

Middleton-Hope told council “parking violation fines and parking fees have remained static for several years. Currently many citizens who work in the downtown core decline paying for parking because the fines for parking and relief, if the fines are paid early, act as a disincentive to pay for parking. We currently have some of the lowest parking fines of the largest cities in the province.

“What I’m proposing does not penalize lawful parking but it holds those who are delinquent accountable to a higher standard by way of imposing stricter consequences. Parking fines also generate revenue” that also can be applied to enhancing and improving regulatory services which he says “has been overburdened for some time without much foreseeable relief.”

A council referral item in the draft budget calls for increasing the fee for on-street parking fines from $25 to $50 while keeping the $15 reduction if payment is received within seven days of the date of the offence.

An official business motion proposed by Middleton-Hope regarding Regulatory Services capacity shortage was carried by a 6-3 vote. It also will be the subject of budget deliberations next month.

The motion calls for administration to examine funding sources and a strategy to add capacity to the Regulatory Services department and help offset costs in its operation.

That department has numerous responsibilities including parking violations, utility bylaw enforcement, business licensing, animal control, unsightly premises, snow bylaw and Weed Act enforcement.