Ohio University will raise most campus parking fines $5 on July 1 to fund parking lot maintenance and increase salaries for Parking Services' five staff members.
While the majority of citations will increase from $20 to $25, the largest fine increase will be for parking in a handicap spot without a permit, which will jump from $100 to $250. In total, fines for 29 of the 35 citation categories will increase. OU's Board of Trustees unanimously voted to increase parking fines on April 18.
Rebecca Vazquez Skillings, director of Budget Planning and Analysis, said the increase will generate an additional $235,000 for Parking Services, which has an average budget of $820,000. Parking Services employs two full-time staffers and three full-time enforcement officers.
Teresa Trussell, parking operations supervisor, said that Parking Services proposed the increases around Christmas but was told the plan was denied. It was not until The Post called that she learned fines would increase.
In addition to increasing salaries, Parking Services will spend the extra revenue to fix potholes, repaint lines and resurface lots, Trussell said. You need a reserve to fund these operations
she said.
Vazquez Skillings said Parking Services had two options to increase revenue: up parking fines or raise the price of student permits.
(Parking Services) did not want to increase the parking permit fee Vazquez Skillings said.
Commuter LaTeya Foxx, a second-year medical student, said she is concerned about the fee increases.
I have a commuter parking pass and there are not enough parking spaces Foxx said. I would not want to get back and have an expensive ticket on my car after I paid for the year.
Some students have classes that last several hours and might not be able return to their car before the meter expires, Foxx said.
Trussell said Parking Services sells about 3,500 student permits each year, based on the number of available spaces. Commuter permits costs $105 per year ' students living on campus pay either $165 per year for an outdoor spot or $330 per year for a garage spot. About 2,000 faculty receive free permits each year.
Parking Services collects $510,000 in fines and sells $310,000 in student parking permits, which together make up its budget.
Of the Athens Police Department's approximate $841,000 total revenues, about $390,000 is collected in fines.
At Miami University, citations are commonly given for parking without a permit and parking in restricted areas. Both cost $65 each, said Perry Gordon, director for Parking and Transportation Services.
I would say our projected revenue is $650
000
Gordon said, adding Miami receives an additional $689,000 from permit sales.
Students can appeal tickets online and a committee reviews appeals each month. About 550 appeals have been filed since January. Parking Services also voids tickets for first-time offenders and visitors unfamiliar with campus parking rules.
Junior Kaitlin Armocida chose not to go through the appeal process when she received multiple tickets each day for a week, when her permit fell off her car window. She said Parking Services called her house about the citations a week later and though her fine was reduced, she still had to pay $50.
I was so angry
Armocida said. I think it is nuts the way they handle parking.
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