Fined drivers owe Atlanta millions

The city of Atlanta is owed about $10.5 million in unpaid parking citations issued during the past 3 1/2 years, and many scofflaws have racked up hundreds of dollars in parking fines and penalties without paying.

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An AJC review of court data shows nearly 289,000 citations went unpaid from January 2005 through July. Court records from the same period indicate vehicles registered to at least 179 people had debts of $1,000 or more.

That may be because motorists have had few incentives to fill the city’s coffers.

Unlike many cities its size, Atlanta has few enforcement mechanisms at its disposal. Debtors’ cars aren’t immobilized with a “boot,” vehicle registrations aren’t suspended, and only the police are empowered to tow in most areas — if and when they have the time.

Councilman H. Lamar Willis said Atlanta has a number of problems with parking enforcement and collection of citations.

“It’s not just a shortcoming on the part of the Public Works Department, but the city as a whole is failing,” Willis said in a telephone interview. “Having $10.5 million dollars sitting out there is something we desperately need to collect on.”

The city made a mistake, he said, by cutting the parking management staff from 28 to nine employees in May.

“Unless we do something to make people realize that their decision to ignore tickets has consequences, we’ll never collect that revenue,” Willis said.

Consider Aki Smith, who court records allege is one of Atlanta’s leading parking scofflaws. The consultant, who admits his car has been cited often while he’s been in meetings downtown, allegedly owes the city $4,100.

When told of the debt, Smith couldn’t believe it.

“I’m completely shocked,” Smith said in a phone interview, adding that he thought the fines owed were only $400 to $500. “I would have thought I’d get a letter or something.”

The one time Smith’s car was towed, it wasn’t because of his outstanding parking fees. He said he was sitting in his car in a no-parking zone outside Peachtree Center earlier this year, “and the next thing you know, I was blocked in.” He had to get out and watch as his car was towed away by parking enforcement officers.

Parking fines range from $10 for an expired meter to $1,000 for a truck with six or more tires parked on a sidewalk. Most parking citations are doubled if not paid within a week.

For many, parking downtown can lead to frequent trips to court to pay fines.

“We have people who come in, and we know who they are,” said Doug Mincher, Atlanta Municipal Court administrator.

But some violators just don’t bother. After 90 days, they’re turned over to the city’s collection agency, Affiliated Computer Services (ACS). They’re mailed up to four notices requesting payment.

Once all the notices are sent, Atlanta has few means of going after scofflaws.

Other cities give motorists the boot — a tire-locking device that immobilizes vehicles. Chicago is considering tightening its enforcement by booting cars after only two unpaid tickets. Atlanta does not yet boot.

Drivers in California, Indiana, Wisconsin and other states who run up unpaid parking tickets can have their vehicle registrations blocked or suspended. But Georgia has no similar restrictions.

Other cities tow vehicles that show up on a list of parking scofflaws. Atlanta’s Department of Public Works tows vehicles parked hazardously or in tow-away zones, but not those by parking meters or other off-limit areas.

The Atlanta Police Department’s operating manual states that an illegally parked vehicle with at least three unpaid tickets or fines totaling more than $100 can be towed.

Officer Eric Schwartz, an Atlanta police spokesman, said officers can specifically request information on unpaid parking citations from dispatchers when running license plates. But he couldn’t say how often officers check for citations or how often towing companies actually are summoned.

And some cities have cut deals. In June, to clear up a backlog of unpaid parking tickets, Detroit offered a 50 percent reduction in fines and penalties to offenders who stepped forward and paid up. Las Vegas ran a similar program in July.

ACS spokeswoman Carrie Hyun said her company works for several cities, and each has different parking enforcement policies. “We do what we are capable of under the city’s enforcement rules,” she said.

The lack of enforcement could be the reason for Atlanta’s low collection rate.

An AJC analysis found the city had collected only about 42 percent of the nearly $5.7 million in parking fines and penalties issued since March 2007 (paid citation data for January and February 2007 were not available).

By comparison, Oklahoma City collected about 70 percent of the nearly $1.5 million in parking tickets issued in 2007, according to that city’s Municipal Court. The collection rate in Dallas last year was about 68 percent.

Zena Fernino, Dallas’ parking enforcement manager, said she wanted the city to be more aggressive in punishing scofflaws. “A lot of cities with more stringent regulations have higher collection rates,” she said.

Atlanta revenue chief Gary Donaldson, who would only respond to questions by e-mail, wrote that the city had “achieved success” in having ACS collect outstanding debt. “With a decreased city staff it is a prudent business decision to hire an outside agency to collect our outstanding debt,” he said.

The days of parking violators ignoring citations could come to an end later this year when a private company with expanded enforcement capabilities takes over parking ticket collections after the city’s current contract with ACS expires Nov. 25.

The city is negotiating with Nashville-based Central Parking System for a comprehensive parking management services contract. The company already operates about 50 parking lots and garages in Atlanta.

The proposed contract would give Central Parking the power to boot and tow, as well as other collection capabilities, said Public Works spokeswoman Valerie Bell-Smith. Current city parking enforcement employees would work for and be paid by Central Parking, she said.

“I think it’s important in what it means to the city,” Russell Miller, general manager for Central Parking’s Atlanta division, said of parking fees. “It’s a big source of revenue.”

Councilman Willis also hopes for an improvement, saying, “There’s a significant amount of money that’s left on the table that could have been a benefit to the taxpayers and the city of Atlanta.”