Report calls for 9% hike in city's parking fines

It may soon cost you a little more if you get caught parking at an expired parking meter, park on the road in winter or park in an area designated for persons with a disability.

Members of the city's finance committee will decide Tuesday whether they support the increase in parking fines, which would raise about $45,300. The revenue would be used to help pay for the 2015 tax freeze.

According to a staff report, the last time fines were increased was in 2010. Since then, the consumer price index has increased by nine per cent, and the current proposal would increase them by the same amount.

So for general parking offences, the fine would increase to $28 from $26 – and to $22 from $20 if you pay them quickly. Fines for winter parking violations – such as parking on the street overnight – would increase to $44 from $40. Parking in a fire zone would net you a $50 fine, up from $45, while stopping where it's prohibited would be a $38 fine, up from $35.

Parking in a spot designated for persons with disabilities without a permit would mean a $327 fine, up from $300.

The increase would keep the city somewhere in the middle of other municipalities. The highest fine for parking at an expired meter in the province is in Markham, where it's $40, while the lowest fine is $10 in Owen Sound and Brantford.

In 2014, revenue collected from parking fines in Sudbury was $671,738, the report said. With no expected increase in parking enforcement activity, a nine-per-cent increase amounts to an increase of about $60,456 a year.

“It is expected that once submitted, the approvals and administrative adjustments to the increase in fines will be complete and ready to be implemented within the first quarter of 2016, projecting approximately $45,300 increase in parking fine revenue for 2016,” the report said.