Regina resident racks up more than $68,000 in parking tickets in just 4 years

Millions of dollars are owed in outstanding parking ticket fines in Saskatchewan's largest cities, with some individuals owing municipalities tens of thousands of dollars.

In Regina, one resident managed to rack up $68,810 in parking tickets between November 2014 and November 2018, a CBC News investigation found.

The individual is one of 30 residents who collectively owe the city of Regina $529,160 from parking tickets alone. Of those, just one hasn't been sent to an agency for collection.

In Saskatoon, the highest owed to the city by an individual is $10,260 in outstanding tickets. A spokesperson for the city says they've been able to collect more than 95 per cent of the total parking ticket fines it has issued, but there's still $7.3 million owed to them as of March.

In Moose Jaw, outstanding parking ticket fines amount to $940,000, with fines dating back to June of 2011.

The City of Prince Albert did not respond in time for publication.

Below arethe top five amounts of outstanding parking ticket fines held by individuals.

City of Regina:

1. $68,810.
2. $31,050.
3. $26,685.
4. $24,660.
5. $23,895.

City of Saskatoon:

1. $10,260.
2. $7,740.
3. $7,354.
4. $6,000.
5. $5,120.

'Every dollar counts'

Municipalities rely on parking tickets as a source of revenue, and during the pandemic "every dollar counts" said Harry Kitchen, a former visiting scholar at the Institute on Municipal Finance & Governance, and professor at Trent University.

In Regina, parking ticket revenue has been on a downward trend. According to the city's proposed operating budget for 2021, the city faces a $1.4 millionloss in revenue from parking tickets as more people are working from home and travelling less due to the pandemic.

But prior to the pandemic, parking ticket revenue has decreased over the yearspartly due to the city's efforts to increase its focus on educating residents on parking regulations rather than achieving compliance through strict enforcement.

"The problem with cities right now and diversifying revenue is they really don't have many options," Kitchen said.

He said one of the few ways a city can recoup revenue loss from outstanding parking ticket fines is from raising property taxes.

"If they don't get the money out of parking fines, they're going to have to get it from some other source," Kitchen said.

He said revenue coming in from parking tickets is small compared to a city's total operating revenue budget, but the psychological effect for residents is much bigger.

"People get ticked off when the guy down the street is getting away without paying his parking fines," Kitchen said.

"I'm quite stunned that you could have one person get away with owing $68,000 and the money has never been collected. That's just unbelievable. It's kind of like highway robbery."

Collecting unpaid parking ticket fines

Unlike other provinces, municipal parking tickets do not impact a person's ability to renew their driver's licence or license plates in Saskatchewan, said a spokesperson with SGI.

As a result, the collection of these outstanding parking ticketsrelies solely on municipalities.

A spokesperson for the City of Regina said they "may pursue all available legal means to collect unpaid parking fines."

This includes issuing liens, warrant of committals, applying a boot on vehiclesand in other cases seizing and selling vehicles.

But with most vehicles costing less than $68,000 in outstanding parking ticket fines, Kitchen questions how effective the city's enforcement is.

"Why not set it up so that if your parking ticket fine is outstanding that year when you go to renew your license plate or licence it's added onto the yearly charge," he said.

"The vast majority of people who get parking tickets out there actually pay them. So why should a few very few get away without paying them and nothing happens to them?"