Cars May Be Seized For Unpaid Fines
By Kristen Mack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Parking scofflaws be warned: Pay your tickets or your car will be towed.
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors passed tougher parking regulations Tuesday allowing the county to tow or boot a vehicle with three or more unpaid parking violations. Vehicle registration may also be blocked under the changes.
The county may sell towed vehicles if an owner refuses to pay the delinquent fines.
Fines will double, from $35 to $70, if not paid or contested within 30 days. Previously, drivers had five days to pay or contest a citation, but boots and tows were not allowed.
"This could increase our collections, simply by giving people time to pay," Sgt. Thomas J. Garrity said about anticipated revenue.
The changes went into effect Tuesday.
In other business, supervisors addressed lost man hours related to false security alarm calls in the county.
Police responded to more than 11,000 such calls between July of last year and June.
Criminal activity was discovered in 19 cases.
"We are taking the limited resources we have and expending them on false alarms," Garrity said.
It's unknown how many alarm systems are operational in the county.
Under changes adopted Tuesday, a registration fee of $10 will be imposed for commercial and residential alarm systems.
No charges will be levied for the first two false alarms within a 12-month period. After that, fines will escalate, starting with $50 for the third response and $500 for more than eight false alarms.
Failure to pay within 60 days will result in officers no longer responding to alarms.
Other jurisdictions experienced an 18 to 20 percent drop in false alarms within the first year of requiring registrations and implementing increased fines, Garrity said.
Arlington County has had a 60 percent drop in false alarms since 2001, and Fairfax County has seen a 55 percent drop since 2002.
Full implementation is expected by July.
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