The District issued $64 million worth of parking tickets last year, up from $55 million in 2002, even though enforcement officers wrote fewer tickets in 2003.
Revenue from parking fines is expected to increase again this year as part of Mayor Anthony A. Williams’ plan to increase revenue through even more aggressive parking enforcement.
Last year, officers wrote 1.6 million tickets, down from 1.67 million in 2002, according to the D.C. Department of Public Works (DPW), whose parking-enforcement officers write most of the city’s tickets. Revenue from the tickets rose $7 million, thanks, in part, to dramatically increased fines that went into effect last year.
In March 2003, fines increased from $20 to $30 for parking in an alley, disobeying an official sign, parking in a no-parking zone and parking for more than two hours in a residential parking area without a permit. Expired-meter fines increased from $15 to $25, and the fine for a commercial bus or sightseeing vehicle parked in front of a residence or in another illegal space jumped from $20 to $500.
In June 2002, council members voted to exempt themselves from most parking regulations. The measure, coming after a year in which traffic-enforcement officers had cracked down on illegally parked council members’ cars, was sponsored by council member Carol Schwartz and supported by fellow members Kevin P. Chavous, Jack Evans, Sandra Allen, Adrian M. Fenty, David A. Catania, Jim Graham, Harold Brazil, Vincent Orange and Linda W. Cropp.
Council members Phil Mendelson, Kathy Patterson and Sharon Ambrose voted against it.
Under the mayor’s proposed fiscal 2005 budget, Department of Public Works is expected to increase rush-hour towing fines to bring in an additional $464,000 and improve booting enforcement to raise $1.78 million in fines.
The money collected from parking fines goes to the city’s general fund. Last year, the city collected $41 million from parking tickets, compared with $38 million in 2002.
DPW spokeswoman Mary Myers said the agency is not getting tougher on parking to generate more revenue.
“There is no scheme about it,” Ms. Myers said. “Enforcing parking laws is one of the best ways to improve traffic flow, maintain driver and pedestrian safety, and to increase access to businesses. Without rigorous parking enforcement, those goals can’t be achieved, and a city of so many residents and commuters would be bottled up all the time.”
Parking-enforcement officers do not have ticket quotas, Ms. Myers said. DPW has about 200 ticket-writers, but the Metropolitan Police, U.S. Park Police and other law-enforcement agencies in the city also write parking tickets.
Early last year, DPW had 170 parking-enforcement officers; in 2001, it had only 70.
In March 2002, the D.C. Council passed legislation increasing DPW’s authorized strength of parking-enforcement officers to 247 for patrolling the District’s 15,270 parking meters and 3,500 city blocks of unmetered but restricted parking spaces. The city now has 17,000 parking meters.
The exemption the council members voted for themselves, which Mr. Williams criticized but approved, extended to members the same parking privileges enjoyed by members of Congress — including the freedom to park in bus zones, in restricted spaces near intersections, at building entrances and on restricted residential streets. It freed council members from having to feed parking meters.
The D.C. Council secretary yesterday did not return a call asking how many parking tickets council members have had voided. Several members display council license plates on their personal vehicles, which cannot be ticketed.
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