Drivers owe the city of Jacksonville nearly $5 million in unpaid parking ticket fines.
An Action News Jax Investigation uncovered that number through a public record request.
Our questions to the city revealed that nearly 65,000 fines remain unpaid.
Jacksonville parking ticket fines can cost drivers as little as $15 for an expired meter, and as much as $250 for illegally parking in a handicap spot.
Katrina Miles said she found a parking ticket on her windshield downtown when her meter ran out.
“I was very upset when I received it,” Miles said. “I’m amazed. I just had no idea that it would have been that amount of tickets that haven’t been paid in Jacksonville.”
The missing $5 million would go toward operating the parking division and pay for Americans with Disabilities Act improvements.
For perspective on what $5 million means in terms of the city budget, the city projects it would cost $4.4 million to bring on 100 new JSO officers next year.
“I’m amazed that it’s that amount of money that they’re not collecting,” Miles said. “I think they should try harder to enforce it.”
City public information officer Tia Ford would not answer Action News Jax’s question about why so many tickets are unenforced, calling it “speculative.”
Ford said no one who works for the city was available for an interview on the subject.
If a driver does not pay a parking fine, the city can put a “registration stop” on their tag. That means the tag cannot be renewed until the driver pays up.
The city could also put a boot on that driver’s wheel.
Cox Media Group
