Seattle will give parking scofflaws the boot

Seattle has warned its 23,000 parking scofflaws: Pay up this month, or the city will immobilize your car. The crackdown begins July 5. Parking enforcement officers will drive around the city in vans equipped with rooftop cameras. If an onboard computer recognizes a plate number from the city’s “scofflaw” list, an alarm sounds, and the officer will lock a U-shaped yellow boot around one tire. To release the boot, motorists must call New Jersey-based PayLock and arrange to pay through a credit card or other means. An employee at the 24-hour call center will provide a code to unlock the boot. The driver must return the 16-pound boot within two business days at one of three Seattle locations, or face additional fines of $25 a day — or a $500 replacement fee if the boot is damaged, stolen, lost or discarded. Cars that have at least four unpaid parking tickets are considered bootworthy. The city says it is owed $26 million in a backlog of scofflaw citations, and booting will recoup an estimated $3 million in the next two years. Besides their parking fines, interest and penalties of typically $400 or more, motorists must pay another $145 fee to PayLock. Seattle will be the first of PayLock’s client cities to allow installment payments, said Brian Lauducci, information-technology director. The down payment must be $200 or 10 percent of the overdue amount, whichever is higher. Once a boot is applied, motorists have two days to get it removed, or the car will be towed. Detroit, Baltimore, Syracuse, New Orleans and Oakland are among cities already using boots. Parking is a lucrative business for Seattle, which issued more than 600,000 fines last year and collected $21.4 million. Booting is expected to raise a net $1.1 million this year after expenses, and $1.8 million next year — not just through release payments, but because the city expects folks to be more diligent about paying for parking. Meter fees and parking-lot taxes should bring in another $55 million this year. The city is spending a total $738,000 this year in enforcement costs, equipment and publicity, then budgeted $582,000 for operating costs next year. Enforcement tends to raise tempers. In Philadelphia, setting for the A&E television series “Parking Wars,” officers work in pairs and avoid most areas after dark. Seattle’s business plan says crews will work in pairs because “tensions often become inflamed” and there is a possibility of safety risks. McCann downplayed that problem, saying officers already write citations and call tow trucks in front of the car owner. “At this point, we’re not anticipating anything we haven’t already faced or encountered,” he said. One partner can drive while the other focuses on the computer and data, he said. At the outset, officers will work during normal business hours, and stick mainly to arterial streets with paid parking, he said. Compared to other cities, Seattle’s four-ticket threshhold for booting is stricter than the five in Oakland, or eight in Olympia. But Salt Lake City boots after two unpaid fines, Syracuse three, and Pocatello, Idaho, three, local news articles say. Some New Jersey cities with scarce residential parking will boot cars immediately while the first parking ticket is written — a practice that causes resentment. Seattle government officials say booting will reduce the time and dollars people would otherwise spend if cars are towed. And make money. Lauducci said PayLock’s business is based on giving customer service, instead of the old model where booted drivers must hassle with another trip just to pay for boot release. City Council members mentioned a couple of problems, in a briefing Wednesday: * Will the homeless be harmed? About 500 single people or families live in their cars, said Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw. Ballard, Lake City and Sodo are common car-camping neighborhoods. The apparent answer is, cut some slack. “We encourage our officers to take in the whole picture of what’s going on,” said McCann. He said a tiny fraction of car-campers have multiple parking fines. Already, the city has done outreach to car-campers about the booting program. * Inconvenience. The city arranged only for three sites where people can drop off the boots — University District, Rainier Valley and Sodo — and no night hours. Council members asked for more options, such as using police stations. “You’re really setting up yourself with some pretty angry folks, some confrontations with our people that really don’t need to happen,” Councilman Nick Licata said. Tim Burgess, chairman of the Public Safety & Education Committee, said he doesn’t expect to add sites now, but the city will monitor the issue. FACTS Pay now, or get the boot Seattle parking CERTAIN FEES ARE BEING WAIVED so that more people will pay fines through June 30, before immobilizer “boots” go into use. The discount: Past interest and collection-agency fees will be removed. The initial parking fine (typically $39), and the $25 late-payment penalty remain. Where to pay: Call Seattle Municipal Court at 206-684-5600 to pay by credit card; go in person to 600 Fifth Ave.; or call the collection agency at 1-800-456-8838 to discuss payment options. There is no online payment. People may pay by mail, but call the court first to learn the reduced payment amount. More info: www.seattle.gov/courts