Effective Parking Violation Management Program (2012 LGAA)

City of Cohoes (Winner)
County: Albany County
Population: 10,001 to 50,000
City Hall: (518) 233-2121

In 2009, the City of Cohoes implemented a Parking Violations Management program that has produced significant improvements in service to the public, clearance rates and collection, with no concurrent increase in staffing or other operational expenditures. Prior to implementation of the program, the City (population 16,168) was experiencing a decline in clearance rates, lengthy disposition times, and a large backlog of unanswered summonses.

Addressing the parking violation issue began with the creation of a Task Force by the Mayor's office consisting of Mayoral staff, as well as representatives from the Police Department, Treasurer's Office and the Parking Violations Bureau. Following extensive interviews by the Task Force, the City selected Fundamental Business Service, Inc. (FBS), of Hempstead, NY, to assist them with this project.FBS worked with the City to develop a penalty structure, make the parking tickets more user-friendly, implement the use of new software, modify return periods, implement an amnesty program, institute early intervention notices, provide a toll-free line to answer questions, and develop case processing performance standards.

The City has experienced many benefits from this program including:Enhanced public access, fairness and awareness; Increased and improved monetary fine collections – fines collected have increased by over 330% and net revenue retained by the City has increased by 271% since the program took effect; Reduced time to disposition and increased clearance; and Improved public compliance to parking codes.

Other benefits have included improved public service and work processes – including an amnesty program, third party collections and Boot Tow enforcement that have reduced the backlog of unanswered summonses and increased disposition.

Municipalities experiencing low clearance rates, backlogs and other indicators of an under-performing parking violations management program should assemble the necessary leadership resources from administration, fiscal, justice, law enforcement, code enforcement and others as needed to evaluate the problem.