$1M owed in parking fines
The Christchurch City Council is owed more than $1 million in unpaid parking fines, dating back to April, 1983. The council regularly writes off a fifth of the income it expects from parking infringements because of the “hard-core 20 per cent” who do not pay.
In the present budget, the revenue expected from parking fines is $550,000. The 20 per cent non-payment portion has already been written off. “Seventy per cent pay before the court stage. Another 10 per cent pay up then without much trouble. Then there is the 20 per cent of nonpayers,” said the council’s parking superintendent, Mr Geoff Stevenson, yesterday. Delays in getting the Justice Department’s computer system working had slowed fine recoveries by the courts, he said.
The national total of outstanding court fines, including parking, stands at about $42 million. Four out of every 10 motorists who park in the inner city opt to take the risk and not feed the meter, a survey by the council’s parking section shows. These people choose to “pay” by what Mr Stevenson euphemistically calls the “infringementfee system.” They take the risk of getting caught.
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Press, 27 September 1988, Page 6
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192$1M owed in parking fines Press, 27 September 1988, Page 6
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