News

City lowers illegal parking fines

Drivers who illegally park in handicapped spaces now face decreased penalties after the city attorney cut parking fines in half last week.

Handicapped parking fines were lowered from $100 to $50 after the city attorney's office noticed Madison's ticketing ordinance was not in compliance with state requirements. The discovery occurred as part of an annual review of city ordinances. "I think that fine should be higher," Madison's city attorney Michael May said. "I think $100 is closer to the range that we would like to see, maybe even more."

Some citizens question whether a $50 fine will still be enough of a deterrent to prevent people from parking in handicapped-only spaces — particularly people who park in those spaces thinking they will only be leaving their vehicles for a few minutes.

"I think that the fact that it's going from $100 to $50 could have the opposite effect," said Jeff Erlanger, a member of Madison's Parking Council on People with Disabilities and the Commission on People with Disabilities. "It's not deterring people, but actually subconsciously giving people a reason to park there if they think they're only going to be there for a short period of time."

May said he would like the city to have more power over determining the amount of the fine, but the state prevents drivers from being fined more than $50 for illegally parking in a handicapped space. "Municipal traffic regulations are required to be in strict conformity with state requirements," May added.

Ald. Paul Skidmore, District 1, also serves on the Commission on People with Disabilities and said he would contact his state legislators to see if the Wisconsin regulations could be raised. "This came as a surprise to me," Skidmore said. "I would like to see it higher because I would like to see more of a deterrent."

Erlanger said that the fine decrease might also actually increase the number of people who park illegally in handicapped spaces.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the City Council voted before the end of 2006 to lower these fines.

"The city attorney said we had to do it," Verveer said. "We had no choice, even though it's going to result in the loss of at least tens of thousands of dollars in parking fines revenue."

To offset the loss, Verveer said the city raised some other parking fines, including winter parking fines. The changes took effect New Year's Day.