Drivers in downtown Modesto beware. Cost of parking tickets will go way up
Parking tickets in Modesto soon are going to be a lot more expensive.
The City Council on Tuesday approved steeper fines for parking violations as well as transferring parking enforcement from the Police Department to the Public Works Department.
The higher traffic violations won’t take effect until May 1. City officials said they want to give drivers a grace period, and the delay gives the city time to publicize the higher fines.
The new fines are steep.
For instance, the cost of the most common ticket — parking beyond the posted time limits on city streets — will increase from $33 to $52. The ticket for parking in a fire lane will increase from $43 to $90, and the ticket for parking by a fire hydrant will increase from $43 to $80.
City officials say the higher fines are based on what seven comparable cities, including Stockton, Fresno and Sacramento, charge.
City officials say this is part of a bigger effort to improve parking and the city’s management of it, especially in downtown. Officials expect to come back to the City Council in summer with a parking master plan.
It could include such measures as paid parking along downtown streets, which is now free and can become clogged with the cars of people who work downtown, and free or discounted parking in the city’s three downtown garages.
It now costs $1.25 per hour to park in a garage, which is why some downtown workers avoid them and park along the street. They avoid tickets by moving and re-parking their cars before the posted time limits expire.
The city charges $80 for a monthly pass to park in a garage.
The city projects the new parking fines could bring in about $965,000 annually and net the city about $180,000 after expenses, such as the cost of traffic assistants who will write tickets. Council members directed city staff to report back to them during spring’s budget hearings on how that money can be spent to improve parking through better technology and other methods.
Mayor Ted Brandvold was the only council member to vote against the increased fines. He wanted first to see how well the city does under its new parking efforts before deciding whether to increase fines.
Councilwoman Kristi Ah You was not at the meeting.
