Expired Meter: Alderman Beale Feels Parking Ticket Fine Increases Excessive

There were some stories last week about a proposed budget by Mayor Emanuel there are some proposed taxes such as an increase in cigarette taxes. Then, we have to be careful to be sure we follow the city's parking regulations. There's going to be increases in parking tickets and fees with that as well.

In fact 9th Ward Ald. Beale is speaking out about that:

South Side Alderman Anthony Beale (9th) isn’t taking kindly to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal to increase fines on some parking violations and fees for impounded cars.

Beale believes these increases will disproportionately affect residents of lesser means according to DNA Info.

“I understand that we have to get creative to plug this hole but it seems like our creativity is coming off the backs of the poor and middle class,” Beale said. “Increasing rush-hour parking violations to $100 from $60 or storage fees for impounded cars to $20 from $10 is excessive.”

Earlier in the week, before the mayor’s budget address on Wednesday, City Hall said the mayor was proposing increasing the cost of some parking violations and by bumping up the cost of storage fees at city owned auto pounds according to the city. The city estimated these increases would bring in an additional $10 million a year in revenue.

This would include raising the fines for street cleaning, parking in a handicapped parking space, parking in front of a fire hydrant, rush hour parking and illegally parking a truck, RV, bus or taxi on a residential street.

Now, I'm not sure if Ald. Beale has voted against anything that the Mayor has proposed, and it's great to see that he's speaking up on this issue. The question is when it comes time to vote on the budget and its various items would Beale step forward and vote against it.