Syracuse lawmakers Monday approved a parking ticket amnesty program that will waive late fees on unpaid parking tickets during the month of November. Drivers will pay the original cost of the ticket, plus a state-mandated surcharge.
“If you're watching the news, you're seeing people, they have their SNAP benefits being taken away and prices of everything are more expensive,” said Syracuse Common Councilor Jimmy Monto. “So for those people out there that have a bunch of tickets built up with a bunch of fees, I think we're lightening the load on them a little bit, saying like, you know, here's the chance for you to waive the fees, pay the original ticket and get it off your back.”
The Walsh administration initially proposed an 18-day amnesty period. Lawmakers changed it to include the entire month of November.
“I think saying like November, the whole month of November, we're going to give amnesty is just easier. It's easier on the ears,” Monto said. “I think people will catch it faster. Just make sense. Give people a little more time.”
The city will get something out of it as well. It pulled in nearly $1 million during the last amnesty parking ticket initiative five years ago. Officials say that currently there are $5.3 million in late fees attached to $6 million worth of delinquent parking tickets on the books. But Monto said it’s also a way to help people during tough financial times.
“I hope that it gets people in a spot where they don't have that pressure of old tickets on them and can have a little bit lighter load and as we go into the holiday season,” he said.
Tickets can be paid in person or on the city’s online portal.
