Thursday, January 21, 2010

Dowagiac Michigan parking Fines Unfair

At the last council meeting we asked council how visitors were to know about the parking ban downtown.
City Manager Kevin Anderson stated that the city has signs at the entrance to town.
Well here is another twist to the story. The tickets issued by the Dowagiac Police state the following fines:
Within 48 hours the ticket is $9.00
Within 7 days the ticket is $13.00
Thereafter the ticket is $17.00
Seems fair for a parking ticket even though visitors have no way of knowing about the law due to the fact there is no signs posted where the tickets are issued.
Here is the way they take advantage of residents and visitors that do not know about the law.
As stated above the ticket states the fine is $17.00 anytime after the 7 days. What the ticket fails to tell you is that thereafter doesn’t really mean thereafter.
If the ticket isn’t paid within so many days the ticket is reissued and the cost is $65.00
So not only do you ticketed for parking in a area that has no sign the $17.00 fine thereafter is not actually true.
This sure seem like a way to deter visitors by giving them a ticket without any sign posted and then turn around and quadruple the cost of the ticket that contradicts the fine on the original ticket.

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