Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

City Council gouging citizens with a massive surcharge on parking tickets

Ok, so I admit to being behind the times on this one, but I haven't had a parking ticket in a few years and today I went outside to my care to see the very unwelcome site of the yellow envelope on my windshield. I picked up the ticket and was shocked that in addition to the already absurd $47 fine for being temporarily parked in my alleyway, there was a $12.50 "state mandated surcharge"!

So I immediately investigated this surcharge and discovered it was voted on by SD City Council in 2011.link text

A 7-1 decision by the City Council was voted on Nov. 29 to pass along state-mandated surcharges. Apparently the vote claimed it would "save" the city $3 million annually (in other words it would gouge citizens 3 million dollars annually to pay for their crony projects).

So doing the math, that is a 25% surcharge on an already overpriced parking ticket. If the City Council is allowed to do this what is to stop them from levying greater surcharges in the future?

I get that there need to be fines for parking violations, but at what point is it no longer appropriate restitution and an abuse of power?

Obviously when we get a parking ticket there is NO option to just not pay it. There is no supply and demand which means the City could charge any amount they want. I am just wondering who is overseeing this abusive gouging of taxpayers by our representatives?

Gloria of course applauded this appalling decision. “I applaud the staff for catching this,” said District 3 Councilman Todd Gloria.

Read more: San Diego Community News Group - Parking tickets will cost you more

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Next Article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell

Ok, so I admit to being behind the times on this one, but I haven't had a parking ticket in a few years and today I went outside to my care to see the very unwelcome site of the yellow envelope on my windshield. I picked up the ticket and was shocked that in addition to the already absurd $47 fine for being temporarily parked in my alleyway, there was a $12.50 "state mandated surcharge"!

So I immediately investigated this surcharge and discovered it was voted on by SD City Council in 2011.link text

A 7-1 decision by the City Council was voted on Nov. 29 to pass along state-mandated surcharges. Apparently the vote claimed it would "save" the city $3 million annually (in other words it would gouge citizens 3 million dollars annually to pay for their crony projects).

So doing the math, that is a 25% surcharge on an already overpriced parking ticket. If the City Council is allowed to do this what is to stop them from levying greater surcharges in the future?

I get that there need to be fines for parking violations, but at what point is it no longer appropriate restitution and an abuse of power?

Obviously when we get a parking ticket there is NO option to just not pay it. There is no supply and demand which means the City could charge any amount they want. I am just wondering who is overseeing this abusive gouging of taxpayers by our representatives?

Gloria of course applauded this appalling decision. “I applaud the staff for catching this,” said District 3 Councilman Todd Gloria.

Read more: San Diego Community News Group - Parking tickets will cost you more

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.