Villaraigosa seeks $78 street sweeping tickets, other hikes
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (BDCi) – Los Angeles Major Antonio Villaraigosa is pursuing another big boost in parking ticket fines, leaving some of them 70% to 90% more expensive than the year he was elected and several times the region’s inflation rate.
With the latest proposed hikes, the city would collect about $40 million a year more than during Villaraigosa’s first year in office, much of it from street-sweeping violations that leave many resident fuming.
The mayor’s budget calls for the street-sweeping penalty to reach $78 , more than in any neighboring city and, in certain cases, nearly twice the amount charged elsewhere in Los Angeles County.
If the City Council approves the approved increase, the sixth in the last seven years, the cost of a street-sweeping violation will have risen 73% since 2005, the year Villaraigosa was elected.
The major and City Council have turned time and again to parking infractions to help balance the city’s budget, which this year faces a $238-million shortfall.
By: Natania Levine
Courtesy: ktla.com
Photo: ktla.com
8 May 2012
11:28 a.m. P.D.T