Forgetting to feed the meter could get costlier

Dunedin parking fines could go up to let drivers know the city is taking violations more seriously.

By LEON M. TUCKER

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 10, 2001

DUNEDIN -- The penalty for parking at an expired meter in Dunedin is a $5 fine. The same goes for double parking or leaving your vehicle in a loading zone.

Compared with the rest of the county, parking tickets in Dunedin are relatively inexpensive, and they have been that way for quite some time.

"We've haven't done anything with them for years," said Kevin Campbell, community services director for Dunedin. "In the 28 years I've been with the city, they haven't changed."

But now they might.

City Commissioners voted last week to increase the fines, and they are scheduled to take a second and final vote on the matter next week.

If the ordinance is passed, expired meter tickets will cost $10, parking in a loading zone will cost $20, and parking in a space for the disabled will jump from $103 to $258.

"We're not doing this as a revenue producer," said John Lawrence, city manager. "We just want to let people know we are taking this a little more seriously."

Sgt. Darrell Herrick, the community policing liaison for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, suggested the increases.

Herrick said such a move would put the city on a scale similar to the county's while acting as a deterrent to illegal parking.

"Quite a few of the parking fines in Dunedin are $5 fines," Herrick said. "And if you look at the price of parking for events, which a lot of times is also $5, it doesn't discourage illegal parking."

Dunedin's possible fine change was prompted in part by the chance that Pinellas County might ask for more money to process municipal parking tickets in coming years.

Currently, when a ticket is processed, 56.6 percent of the fine is given to the city and the rest is given to the county to distribute to state agencies such as the Department Children and Family Services.

But the state wants its county courts to look at how they spend money and reconsider providing services that are not necessary -- including processing parking tickets for cities.

And although Pinellas County Clerk of the Court Karleen De Blaker said processing parking tickets for its municipalities has proven efficient, what it now charges does not pay for clerical and administrative work.

At a meeting in January, De Blaker discussed the matter with the leaders of several cities and asked them to think about an increase in the processing fees to help cover the cost.

"We don't have a preference as to whether (the cities) will continue working with us or not," she said. "As long as they are able to pay the (processing) fee."

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