Lincoln City Council increases parking meter fine for the first time in decades
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – For the first time in about 25 years, the fine for parking tickets in Lincoln is going up.
Parking meters across Lincoln currently cost $1.50 per hour, with varying time limits by area.
If the time you paid for expires, then you will get a ticket.
“I get a pretty good amount [of tickets], especially if I’m running late to class and I just need to find the closest parking spot,” said student Harper Duke.
“We don’t have a lot of options,” said student Grayson Allen, who adds that he doesn’t mind a ticket under certain conditions. “When it’s howling winds and snowing, and we don’t want to walk for fifteen minutes.”
Many are willing to accept the previously $10 ticket, but now that the fine has been increased to $15, some are reconsidering this option.
“I hate it, what?! I had no idea that this was happening, and definitely with all the kids that have to park in this garage, I do know they get a lot of fees, and it’s tough to pay the ones we already got, so upping that, especially for broke college students like myself, is not the right move,” said Allen.
Luke Courtney lives downtown and says it’s too expensive to pay for parking through his apartment building, so he uses the city’s Park and Go garages.
“I pay $75 a month to park here, and I work downtown, so that’s another $15 that they’re taking from me if I come back late,” he said.
This is the first time the city of Lincoln has increased the fine since 2001.
The director of urban development, Dan Marvin, says it’s meant to help the city stay competitive.
“I think we’re certainly lowest amongst all of our peers at $15,” said Marvin.
With the anticipated O Street revitalization project expected to cause parking disruptions, it was noted that this isn’t the time to change parking ticket policies.
“The city’s approaching critical and significant investments within our infrastructure downtown, and as a result, I feel that now is a less-than-ideal time to have a conversation related to increasing the fees associated with parking violations,” said Council member Brodey Weber.
Ultimately, the decision to implement the $5 increase was approved by a 6-1 vote.
Council member Sandra Washington explains her vote by saying, “Because we’re talking about a relatively small area of a small number of meters against the whole, and urban development has researched the whole, I’m going to be voting to increase fees.”
This increase also means that if you don’t pay the $15 ticket within 7 days, it will be bumped up to $20 instead of $15.
