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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker is in favor of cracking down on offenders who don't pay parking tickets and other fines.
Becker's strategy under a newly created collections unit would include wage garnishment, electronic booting of cars, rejection of vehicle registration and driver's license renewals and even jail time.
Salt Lake City ranks last in the state in outstanding civil and criminal collections with a tab of $17 million, according to City Finance Director Gordon Hoskins.
If we say, 'We've got a jail -- we're going to put you away for three days,' my collections are going to increase drastically.
–Gordon Hoskins
"If we say, 'We've got a jail -- we're going to put you away for three days,' my collections are going to increase drastically," Hoskins told the City Council on Tuesday.
He said he expects the punitive measures would generate an extra $1 million after one year and $2.5 million after the second year.
The Utah Legislature would have to grant the authority for garnishments and driver's license and registration holds.
The administration's proposal could require automatic payments with a debit or credit card, reduce the booting threshold from six tickets to three and send accounts to collections agencies sooner, among other measures.
"It's a long time overdue," Council Chairman J.T. Martin said. Councilman Carlton Christensen also said nothing in the proposal alarmed him.
The council also talked about publishing the names of debtors in the newspaper to up the pressure to pay.
Unpaid parking tickets totaling $5 million make up most of the outstanding civil fines issued through Salt Lake City Justice Court. About $10 million is from criminal misdemeanors and moving violations.
Salt Lake City Justice Court presiding Judge Virginia Ward told the City Council the court is "not necessarily hostile to the idea," but she said "ethics demand that I consider ability to pay."
Councilman Van Turner expressed some hesitation at pursuing jail time for unpaid traffic tickets.
"That is kind of chilling to a lot of people," he said, though he also said the city has "been pushed in a corner."
A reorganization under the city Finance Department would require five new full-time employees, with a total of seven collection officers working under a manager.
"They are people who know how to collect," Hoskins said. "It's not being a bully."
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
