During the course of his tenure, Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb has had a well-known goal to relax the fee structure regarding unpaid tickets for minor parking violations. Now as he reaches the end of his term, Abu-Taleb can leave office knowing that goal has been met.
“It’s low-hanging fruit for people who need help. Let’s get it done,” Abu-Taleb told the board during a March 15 village board meeting.
The discussion led to a unanimous vote from the board to decrease the late fee from $30 to $10 for certain parking tickets that have not been paid after 14 days of issuance, as well as designating a $20 fine for tickets not paid after adjudication rulings.
“I pay my tickets on time, and I’m sure that most of you do, but there’s a lot of people out there that they end up paying $116 for a ticket,” said Abu-Taleb. “That’s a lot of money for a young person.”
Abu-Taleb told the board that parking ticket fees should not be viewed as a revenue source but as a method to bring people into compliance.
His stance garnered the gratitude of Trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla – a rare occurrence as the two are often at odds with each other during village board discussion.
“I really appreciate you, kind of, laying it out like that,” said Walker-Peddakotla.
“And I agree with you.”
Abu-Taleb responded in kind, saying, “Arti, I appreciate you agreeing with me.”
The new fee structure applies to a variety of parking violations, such as overdue parking meters on and off streets, pay by space on and off streets, failure to set meters and failure to observe limited parking times.
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Other parking violations subject to the new fee structure include double parking, parking within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, parking on private property without the consent of the owner, parking under a viaduct.
The $10 fee will also apply to unpaid tickets issued for parking without a permit in permit-designated areas and in prohibited or restricted parking areas, as well as parking in violation of cab, bus and loading zones and in violation of emergency snow parking requirements.
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