Which Chicago ward gets the most parking tickets?
Nearly 193,000 parking tickets were issued during the first eight months of this year in Chicago’s showcase 42nd Ward, which includes downtown and the Gold Coast. That’s 35 percent more tickets than the next-highest ward.
But when it comes to applying the Denver boot, the 42nd Ward is near the bottom of the list. Motorists parking in the congested ward were booted 577 times. Forty-two other wards have higher numbers.
(Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times)
That’s just one of the tidbits from the booting and ticketing breakdown released Wednesday during Day One of City Council hearings on Mayor Daley’s 2010 budget.
Once again, the 41st Ward tops the list with 1,646 boots through Aug. 31. The ward includes O’Hare Airport, where a private manager roams the world’s largest indoor garage and outdoor lots to hunt down a captive audience of scofflaws.
Daley’s decision to drop the boot threshold — from three unpaid tickets to two older than one year — has had an impact. During the same period last year, the 41st Ward had just 1,434 boots, 15 percent less.
Productivity has been further improved by automated license plate readers that allow boot crews to strike pay dirt more quickly.
The 23rd Ward, which includes Midway Airport, ranked No. 2 on the list with 1,469 boots applied.
Parking and red-light ticket scofflaws looking to stay one step ahead of the boot would also be advised to stay out of: the 2nd Ward (1,249); the 27th (1,247); 5th (1,241); 32nd (1,239); 6th (1,207); 37th (1,079); the 20th and 28th (1,075 each) and the 4th (1,050).
In addition to the 42nd, the most ticketed wards are the: 2nd (142,290); 44th (106,209); 1st (93,312) and the 32nd (87,480).
Citywide, 1.84 million parking tickets were issued through Aug. 31, the same number as last year.
Parking ticket revenues are up about $7 million, thanks to the amnesty held earlier this year.
Normally, there’s a post-amnesty drop-off in revenue. But not this year. Parking meters have to be fed 27 percent more hours than they used to be, under the 75-year, $1.15 billion lease that privatized the meters. Street cleaning tickets are down. But tickets tied to meter violations have made up the difference.
Revenue officials insist that the 42nd Ward has 192,758 tickets and only 577 boots because downtown cars are primarily parked in private garages and lots. Boot crews only prowl city streets.
Tougher to explain is the fact that 11 of the top wards on the boot list are majority black wards. The city has long insisted that boot crews are color-blind and “cover all areas equitably.”
Aldermen who represent the most-booted and ticketed wards were horrified to learn that there are still $436 million worth of unpaid parking tickets dating back to 2002 and $70 million worth of overdue red-light tickets.
“We have to find ways to raise revenue. You’re talking about $506 million. That’s money out there to be collected. I don’t think all of those people are considered deadbeats,” said Ald. Ray Suarez (31st).
Revenue Director Bea Reyna-Hickey countered, “There’s payment plans. There’s been hardship payment plans...We use collections agencies. We use law firms. We suspend. We boot. We place holds on business license accounts when parking tickets are associated with them. But, there’s a certain amount of debt that is never gonna be collected.”