by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Five–dollar parking tickets could soon be a thing of the past as the City searches for ways to pay for new court fees.
Coming changes to the way the State pays for its courts will force Jacksonville to charge more for parking tickets and court filing fees, said Brad Thoburn, the City’s director of state and federal affairs. Under the new structure, the City will likely pay $10 to $50 in filing fees every time it writes a $5 parking ticket.
Tickets and citations have never been money makers for the City, Thoburn said, but losing money on every ticket was unworkable. Thoburn said the people receiving the tickets and using the courts would likely make up the difference.
“As a matter of practical policy, the fine has to be higher than the filing fee,” said Thoburn. “We understand enforcement is a cost. We pursue fines and tickets even when it costs money, because it’s a quality-of-life thing.
“Fines are a deterrent, not a revenue generator. Still, you can’t get to the point where you’re just bleeding red on them.”
Thoburn said he didn’t know how high parking fines could climb, but they will likely be somewhere north of the current $5 level and somewhere south of the $50 maximum the City could pay to pursue a parking citation. Thoburn said the City would consider raising fines wherever they fell short of the administrative costs.
The court changes are scheduled to take effect July 1. Thoburn said the City should have a good idea of the final financial picture within the next three weeks. After the Legislature makes its final decisions about who pays for what, the City will examine where fees and fines need to be bumped.
Even in a best-case scenario for the City, Thoburn said some increases would be necessary.
“Even if we’re paying $10 on every parking ticket, we’re still losing money, and that’s a problem,” said Thoburn. “$10 is not as bad as $200, but it’s still a loser. Our hand is kind of being forced here. It can’t cost the City more than the perpetrator who gets the violation.”
If every citation cost the City money, Thoburn said enforcement could drop off. “Why even pursue them, if it’s going to cost money?” he said. “It gets to the point where it’s cost prohibitive.”
The new funding structure is part of a State effort to have the court system pay for itself. As the State takes over the reins, it wants as much of the cost as possible paid for by those who use the system, said Thoburn.
Jacksonville’s projected financial impact has improved considerably since last year, when the Legislature announced the initial funding split. Once thought to be on the hook to spend an extra $6-8 million on its courts annually, Thoburn said Jacksonville’s worst-case scenario now looks like $2 million annually. If the City gets everything it’s asking for during continued lobbying, Thoburn said the City could actually come out a little ahead.