Ohio University Transportation and Parking Services collected nearly $1 million in parking fees and fines in 2005, while the Athens Police Department brought in $564,000 from parking in 2006.
OU employees wrote almost 36,000 tickets and collected more than $564,000 in parking fines in 2005, according to their annual report. The office also collected almost $345,000 from student parking permits and more than $83,000 from parking meters, for a total of $992,000. The 2006 statistics have not yet been released.
APD issued 38,449 parking tickets in 2006, collecting more than $391,000 in parking fines, according to recently released statistics. APD also collected an additional $173,000 from parking meters.
Athens parking fines range from $5 for minor citations, such as parking at an expired meter, to a state-mandated $250 fine for parking in a handicapped spot without a permit, APD Capt. Tom Pyle said.
Pyle said ticket revenues for 2006 were a 16 percent increase from the previous year, an increase of about $51,000 in revenue.
Some of the increase in revenue came from increased collections
Pyle said, referring to outstanding tickets from previous years.
In 2005, APD signed a contract with a new software company, whose services include assisting in the collection of unpaid parking tickets going back several years, he said.
Most tickets issued by OU are $20 and result from parking in a lot without a permit.
While parking is free in most OU lots between 5 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Monday, OU's online parking map lists 10 color-coded lot designations, three of which require permits at all times.
It is my personal belief that the signage is not as clear as it could be said Doug Lape, OU's director of transportation and parking services.
Lots are marked with signs indicating parking hours, but the size and layout of these signs is restricted by university guidelines, Lape said.
Drivers who are ticketed by OU Parking Services or APD can appeal tickets.
Drivers who think they were wrongfully ticketed can appeal to APD by talking to the officer who issued the ticket, Pyle said. However, ticket prices increase if not they are not paid within 48 hours, meaning that students must either appeal quickly or pay the fine.
Students ticketed by OU can appeal through an online process, Lape said, adding that OU gives a courtesy void to first time parking violators. More than 3,400 tickets were voided last year through the courtesy void program, according to an annual report.
OU's appeals form can be found on the parking services Web site, www.facilities.ohiou.edu/parking, and must be filled out within 10 days of when the ticket was received.
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