Nearly $870,000 in unpaid Rochester parking tickets headed to collection

May 20—ROCHESTER — Thousands of drivers have racked up nearly $870,000 combined in unpaid Rochester parking tickets.

The accrued tickets date back to 2018, involving more than 9,000 individual vehicles.

"Beyond 30 days, the city has not historically had a consistent method of collecting," City Clerk Kelly Geistler told the Rochester City Council on Monday.

The city was able to ask the court to issue warrants for tickets that were more than a month due, but that option ended in 2007.

The city can currently tow vehicles with three or more 30-day-old tickets, but Geistler said the Minnesota Legislature is poised to end that option.

"Right now, as it stands, we have no collection mechanism going forward," she said.

Prior to 2019, the city routinely dismissed parking tickets after three years of nonpayment, but city staff determined the practice contradicted enforcement efforts. However, the end of the dismissal practice wasn't replaced with any additional attempts to collect the fines.

The city's primary incentive for paying parking tickets is a fee structure that adds $5 penalties after 10 and 20 days, and a final $15 penalty after 30 days. The fees are added to tickets that range from $28 for an expired meter to $197 for illegally parking in an accessible space designated for people with disabilities.

Geistler, along with city parking staff, recommended the use of a collection service tied to the city's existing parking contract with IPS Group, Inc. The collection service will keep 35% of anything it collects.

The council supported the change, but cited some concerns about the impact.

Mayor Kim Norton pointed out some residents already struggle to pay the initial fine, let alone the added fees.

"You have somebody who is already struggling and you're going to ding their credit record," she said. "That's a really difficult thing, and once you get into the cycle it's very difficult."

She suggested providing added time and the potential for creating a payment plan.

Geistler said a warning will be added to all notices, meaning a person will have at least four warnings. Additionally, she said it's unclear whether the collection action will affect a person's credit rating.

"It kind of depends on the ticket, and it kind of depends on the credit agency," she said, noting the impact will be out of the city's hands if a person opts not to pay.

However, she said the option also moves away from taking legal criminal action on an unpaid parking ticket.

"The collection is the very last thing, and we are there at every stage to guide them in a different direction," she said, pointing out options for contesting tickets.

Sam Budzyna, the city's traffic and parking manager estimated 70% to 80% of the approximately 2,000 tickets issued each month are paid before collection efforts would start.

"People who pay them, pay them before the late fees," he said.

Council member Shaun Palmer suggested finding some leeway, potentially not acting on the first tickets and enacting collections after three or five tickets are unpaid.

"That way we could bundle them," he said.

Geistler said forgoing action on some tickets would likely create a new backlog, with the majority of people on the current list having less than three tickets. She said an accurate list becomes difficult to maintain over a long period, due to car sales and the requirement to change license plates every seven years.

"If you have a law, how do you enforce it if there are rules attached to it that just let stuff go," she said.

In the end, the council voted 6-0 to support the use of the collection service for any unpaid tickets issued after 2017. Council member Molly Dennis didn't participate in the vote after being ejected from the meeting during the 45-minute discussion.

In other city business, the council:

* Approved the annexation of 35 acres on the southeast corner of the intersection of Viola Road and East Circle Drive to make way for plans to build a new First Unitarian Universalist Church.

* Approved using $1.5 million federal and reserve funds to support a minimum revenue guarantee to help attract additional commercial flights to Rochester International Airport.

* Approved using $50,000 from the council's contingency fund to support overflow space for the Rochester Community Warming Center between June 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2025. The funds cover rent for the use of Salvation Army's social services center, 115 First Ave. NE., and staffing support as other funds are being raised for the effort that's estimated to cost $16,525 a month.

* Approved the subdivision of 60 acres into 95 residential lots and five outlots for the Scenic Oaks West Third development in southwest Rochester.

* Approved property tax abatement and negotiating the sale of $11.4 million in bonds to help fund downtown district energy improvements , which will connect city buildings to renewable energy through geothermal wells.

* Approved a change to the city's comprehensive plan and growth management map to make way for potential annexation and rezoning for industrial use of 138 acres in southeast Rochester, between the Shops on Maine commercial site and Gamehaven Park.

* Opted not to seek an override of Norton's veto of a council request seeking data and potential policy changes regarding the city's seasonal parking requirements.