By Andrew Hackmack
The board of trustees, on Monday night, voted to increase several fines.
Most $25 tickets will rise to $35 when the new fines take effect next month. Those violations include exceeding the four hour on-street parking limit; parking in safety zones, bus stops, no parking zones, in a crosswalk, on the sidewalk or curb; or blocking a driveway. Parking overnight on village streets will also cost $35, as will leaving a car on the street with an expired inspection or registration.
If your meter runs out, that will cost you $35, up from the current $15 fine. All parking field violations -- having no permit, the wrong permit or parking overtime -- will result in a $40 ticket, up from $30.
Village Justice Bob Bogle said it is important to raise the fines in the village's parking lots, particularly in those surrounding the railroad station. If someone was looking for a place to park and didn't have the proper permit, Bogle explained, Valley Stream is a more enticing place because it has lower fines than Lynbrook or Rockville Centre. "My overall concern was that people would take advantage of our community because of our fine schedule," he said. "We have to keep our standards on the same level as other communities."
That won't be the case anymore.
One major increase will be on those who park illegally in handicapped spots. The village is doubling its fine -- from $100 to $200 -- plus a $30 state surcharge. Bogle noted that around the holiday season, he often sees many people in court who illegally park in handicapped spots outside of Toys R Us. He noted that is something that needs to be discouraged throughout the village and at all times of year, which is why the fine is rising so sharply.
Village Deputy Treasurer Michael Fox said that currently, parking tickets bring in about $75,000 to $90,000 a month in revenue. The increased fines should net the village another $8,000 to $10,000 a month, he said, or about $100,000 a year.
Fox noted that this projected increase in revenue was accounted for in next year's village budget, which begins on June 1.
Mayor Ed Cahill said that while the village is facing revenue shortfalls this year, that was not the motivation behind raising the fines. "That is not a way to balance your budget," he said. "We don't want to count on fines."
Cahill said that the issue of raising parking fines first came up in discussions more than a month ago with Bogle. The mayor brought the idea back to the rest of the board, who supported the idea.
"It's an increase in revenue based on the offender, not the taxpayer," trustee Edwin Fare said. "The burden of this is on the violator."
Fare said he hopes that higher fines will be deter people from parking illegally in the first place.
Trustee Joanne Antun said this was an appropriate time to raise the fines as the new budget cycle begins shortly.
Village Clerk Vinny Ang said the new fines will likely take effect around June 1. The last time the penalties were increased was 1997.
Bogle and Cahill described parking as a quality of life issue. Specifically, Bogle said, prohibiting overnight parking improves security and discourages illegal apartments.
As for the new fine schedule, Bogle said he researched how much similar parking tickets cost in other surrounding villages. "Our increases are reasonable because we basically compared ourselves to other villages," he said. "I found that the new fines were not excessive. If anything, we are less than Nassau County and the city of New York."
