Adelaide City Council to scrap courtesy letters for parking offenders
Drivers who forget to pay their parking fine will no longer get a gentle reminder, and will instead just cop a late fee.
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A courtesy letter sent to parking dodgers in the CBD and North Adelaide has been scrapped as part of an Adelaide City Council move to collect an extra $1.4 million a year.
The council voted on Tuesday night to get rid of the letter and instead send out just one reminder notice with a late and search fee six weeks after the fine is issued.
Scrapping the letters will save the council about $1.4 million a year through a combination of reduced administrative costs and increased revenue through fine penalties.
Deputy Lord Mayor Alexander Hyde said courtesy letters were “rewarding people who have done the wrong thing”.
“I would consider it a level of over-servicing to people who have broken the law and it could be (money) better spent,” Cr Hyde said.
“We are in a situation (battling the economic impact of COVID-19) where we are asking our administration to find significant and substantial savings, so I think this … will go a long way into achieving operational savings in the longer term.”
In December 2017, the council amended its on-street parking and expiations policy to include a courtesy letter 28 days after the ticket was issued.
The letter would be sent, without increasing the amount owed, to those who had an overdue fine and the payment period extended for a further a further two weeks.
The council must pay the State Government a $10 search fee to obtain the details of the offender so the letter can be sent.
If the fine was paid within the two week grace period the council would foot the $10 fee, otherwise the offender would receive a reminder notice and pay the search fee and cop a late fee of up to $66.
Cr Philip Martin said the change would “punish” ratepayers and city-goers.
Meanwhile, Cr Mary Couros said the move was a good way to increase savings.
“If there is a saving to be made, then why not?” Cr Couros said.
“I don’t think this change is a burden, it is actually benefiting out city and benefiting our ratepayers.”
The change will start in September.
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