Jose Franco may complain that there isn’t enough parking to go around in the city, but nothing gets him more outraged than the fact that starting Feb. 1, if he does find parking and winds up with a ticket, he will have to pay a higher fine. He’s also a little miffed at the fact that the city has been charging residents the higher fine before the change was even scheduled to take effect. “It’s really unfair how the city decided to issue tickets to residents before the actual fees were legal,” said Franco, a long-time resident and business owner in Union City. “You hear people complaining about the summons, but nothing is being done about it. It’s outrageous. We’re not a wealthy town, and eventually, it’s going to hurt our businesses and the people who live here, too.” An ordinance passed by the Board of Commissioners Jan. 4 hiked fines from $10 to $16 for parking violations including staying too long at the meters and parking too close to a fire hydrant. $1 of the increase was mandated by the state. Like all city ordinances, the law was not supposed to take effect until 20 days after it was approved. However, residents began receiving tickets bearing the new fees immediately after the Commissioners’ vote. But the city is saying that anyone charged the increase before Feb. 1 will get a refund of the $6 by the end of the month, because the fees were not slated to go into effect until Feb. 1. According to the Violations Bureau at City Hall, residents who have received the new summonses may go directly to their office to pay the correct fee. The fee is $11, including the state hike, not $16, which includes the not-yet-implemented municipal hike. People who have already paid by mail will be refunded their overpayment by the end of the month, officials said. The confusion stemmed from the fact that police issued the parking tickets with the new fees included, rather than the old. Residents did not realize the new fees had not yet taken effect. One parking official who wanted to remain nameless said the confusion should have been avoided. “I think the city’s mistake was not passing this ordinance on time,” the official commented. “It was supposed to be passed on Dec. 13, and when it wasn’t, I knew there would be a problem. The city issues around 10,000 tickets per month, and 90 percent of those are parking violations. I don’t think you can expect people to adjust that quickly, especially with such an increase that some weren’t even aware was passed. The best we can do is refund their money or encourage them to come here until we are up-to-date.” Besides the $1 increase issued by the state this year, most towns in Hudson County have remained at an average range of $10 – $15. There were only slight changes in Union City and North Bergen, who both passed ordinances to add a $5 surcharge. City officials don’t feel that the parking violation fees are excessive. And they said the mistake on the tickets was an honest error. “We understand the confusion that residents are experiencing and we are working with the problem,” said Revenue and Finance Commissioner Michael Leggerio. “Unfortunately, when the new state fees went into effect on Jan. 1, we hadn’t received our ticket books yet with the new prices, so we attached stickers with the increased fees on the back of the summonses. That is probably where people got confused. We want to let residents know we are honoring the fees up until the end of the month and will refund anyone who has paid the extra fee. However, I don’t think we are being excessive. We are pretty much up to par with the other municipalities.” “Our parking fees are basically the mean of our neighboring towns, so I don’t see us as being more than anyone else” Garcia said last week. “But one of the issues that sparked the increase was our concern of out-of-towners coming into Union City and utilizing our spaces and congesting our streets and not paying their tickets to the city. It is an impetus that caused us to make this decision, but one that was to help our city, not put a burden on our residents.” Not everyone agrees. One resident who was at the Parking Violations Bureau on Tuesday to settle a ticket said that the new fees are too steep. “I knew that there were plans to raise the parking fees, but this is a bit much,” said Ms. Rojas, who didn’t want to give her first name. For more information concerning parking tickets and refunds, contact the Violations Bureau at 392-3663.
Residents can get refunds if accidentally overcharged with premature parking fines
