Protecting yourself from the City’s parking enforcement is a wise strategy.  Time was when a parking ticket was maybe twenty-five dollars.  But that is no longer the case.  Today a parking ticket costs seventy dollars.

In the example illustrated above, from April, the driver pulled into a spot just as a parking enforcement employee was coming up the block making out tickets.  The driver saw the parking enforcement employee but was quite certain the parking enforcement employee saw him pull in just one or two car lengths away.

The driver walked over to the nearest payment kiosk and paid the appropriate rate.

After completing the transaction he turned around to see the parking enforcement officer putting a ticket on his car.

A heated debate ensued after which the parking enforcement employee said there was nothing that could be done aside from an appeal.

It is not an unreasonable, with the City facing chronic financial problems, to believe that enforcement workers are being told to violate people in situations where they think they can get away with it.  It is difficult to prove but a reasonable suspicion.

The driver, having receipt in hand and being highly offended by the way this unfolded, contested when the violation arrived.  After some time a notice arrived stating that a judge agreed that the violation was not appropriate.  The ticket was dismissed.

Getting a receipt for parking your car may seem like a nuisance.  But it is worth the effort.  It could save you a lot of money.

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