Saskatoon city council looking for ways to collect $8M in outstanding parking tickets

Saskatoon -

City hall is out $8 million in unpaid parking tickets, and one city councillor is asking whether the city could turn to other methods to collect the outstanding fines.

“It’s been gradually growing and this is the highest it’s been and the problem we face as a city is to go and recoup on these parking tickets. We have to send solicitors and take people to court,” said Ward 5 city councillor Randy Donauer. “The cost for us to recoup these in court outweighs the (amount) that’s owed to us.”

Earlier this year, Donauer put forward a motion asking the city’s administration to come up with options on how city hall could collect these outstanding parking tickets. Donauer said it will likely involve the provincial government legislating more power to the municipality.

One idea, Donauer said, is to not allow those with outstanding parking fines to renew their driver’s licenses or license plates with Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI).

“It might not be popular, but what is popular is keeping property taxes low and what’s happening now is in order to pay for the services like parking and parking enforcement, we’re having to use tax dollars where our whole system is set up so when we give you a ticket and you pay, that pays for some of the infrastructure parking that we have,” he said.

In a statement to CTV News, the City of Saskatoon’s solicitor’s office said if a parking ticket is unpaid, the city can pursue a court-ordered fine. The city’s solicitor said the city collects unpaid and overdue fines by vehicle booting and/or impounding.

“If a vehicle is impounded, it will be held for at least 30 days to allow the owner to pay the impound fees and the outstanding overdue parking fines. If the vehicle is not redeemed via such payment, it will be sold at auction and the proceeds used to pay off the impound fees and fines,” the city said in an email. “Any excess funds resulting from the sale are returned to the vehicle owner.”

In response to Donauer’s request, the city said a report is forthcoming.

Donauer said $8 million could go a long way when it comes to the various city projects awaiting funding. He hopes the province allows the city to do more to collect those outstanding parking tickets.

“We’re asking our solicitor ‘are there any levers we could ask the province to pull to help us get that money so the violators pay?’”