Giving drivers boot brings Seattle unexpected windfall
Jul 23, 2012, 1:09 PM | Updated: 4:05 pm
The city of Seattle is giving a lot more drivers the boot
than it expected since launching a new parking enforcement
program a year ago. Officials say that’s helped the
city recover nearly $2.2 million in outstanding fines.
Despite some criticisms the city is using the program
to make money, Seattle Police Detective Jeff Kappel
insists that’s far from the truth.
“It’s not a revenue program, it’s a recovery program,”
Kappel says. “The biggest thing we’re trying to achieve
here is trying to encourage law abiding behavior and
encourage people to pay their parking fees and pay it
promptly because the longer you wait the more it can
accrue.”
The city has collected $2.074 million in
fees to remove the yellow, metal boots put on the vehicles
of people with outstanding tickets. It took in
$136,000 more in fees for cars that were impounded,
according to Kappel.
In all, 2,713 vehicles were booted, although the number is
actually higher since the latest report covers the first
three quarters since the program started July 5, 2011.
Many are repeat offenders with multiple outstanding
tickets, according to Kappel.
“If you kept going to the grocery store and stiffing them
on the bill, you’d be arrested. If you went to a movie
theater and refused to pay your ticket, you’d be thrown
out and arrested,” Kappel says.
The city is stepping up efforts to spread the word,
launching a new publicity campaign with Seattle’s TD Wang
Advertising Group. The new campaign announced Monday
encourages people to pay up now, warning the longer they
wait the more it’ll cost them. The ads will appear on
buses, television, radio, and print, and will be presented
in number of languages. Some materials will be
presented in Amharic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, and
Vietnamese.
“We’re really trying to reach the broadest audience
possible. We want to make sure nobody has felt like
they’re left out of this,” Kappel says.
According to Kappel, about 75 vehicles a week get the
boot. The highest concentrations are in the U District,
Belltown, and Capitol Hill.
