Community Corner

Village Board OKs Bigger Fines for Parking Tickets

Whitefish Bay trustees raise fines for meter violations to $15, while fines for overnight parking violations jump to $20.

No one likes to hear that the parking fines are going up in price – but they are.

The Whitefish Bay Village Board unanimously voted Monday to increase fines for expired meter tickets from $10 to $15; for overnight parking tickets from $15 to $20; for handicapped parking tickets from $50 to $150; and for all other parking tickets from $15 to $25. Meter prices will not increase.

Overall, the increases could generate an additional $61,000 in revenue for the .

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A recent survey shows Whitefish Bay's parking tickets are lower than the nine other Milwaukee County communities, and the increase would bring Whitefish Bay's night parking penalties to the same amount as Shorewood and Cudahy, the next lowest communities on the list.

The handicapped parking penalty is higher than most other communities on the list, and the $25 fee for all other parking violations is on the lower half of the nine surveyed communities. Most other communities do not have parking meters, so no comparable data was available for those ticket prices.

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Before taking action, the board sought feedback from downtown business owners. When asked by village officials, BID Chairman John Stuhlmacher of said he would not support a price increase.

"I firmly believe that that may drive customers away as it has in the city of Milwaukee," he said in an e-mail to village officials.

The Business Improvement District did not reach a consensus on the issue because it did not have a scheduled meeting, but Stuhlmacher said none of the business owners he talked to supported an increase.

“I don’t see how this would improve the state of business in the village by increasing the amount of parking citations,” he said.

At last month's meeting, Assistant Village Manager Matt Schuenke said some business owners like the parking meter enforcement because it opens up parking spaces for new customers.

At that meeting, trustees considered raising meter penalties from $10 to $15, handicap parking tickets from $50 to $100, and all other parking tickets from $15 to $20.

Trustee Kevin Buckley advocated for a freeze on overnight parking fines at both meetings.

"Typically, it's an accidental issue," he said. "They forget about their car and leave it out in the street, and the next morning they have that big bright orange ticket staring them in the face. ... I wish I could just park in front of my place for one night, and the village actually excuses if you have the foresight to call ahead."

The freeze on overnight parking ticket fines did not gain traction with the board, however.

On a yearly average, village police write 2,000 expired meter tickets, 4,700 overnight parking tickets, 50 handicap parking tickets and 2,250 tickets for other parking violations.

Trustees also voted to make winter parking more accessible on Henry Clay Drive after a resident voiced concerns at a previous meeting about a shortage of monthly permits in the area. The change would open up eight to nine additional parking spaces in the block between Diversey and Berkeley boulevards.


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