New York, NY – Last Call To Get Reduced Parking Ticket Rates Before City’s Deal Ends

New York, NY – For New Yorkers with parking tickets, time’s running out to get a discounted fine.

At midnight Monday, the city says goodbye to its discount parking ticket rule, which has allowed ticket holders to slash $22 off of $65 fines by pleading guilty to their parking violations on the Department of Finance’s website.

Millions of drivers have taken advantage of the reduced fees since the law went into effect in 2007 to save people money in tough times, and help speed up the sluggish processing of millions of parking tickets doled out each year.

While those savings were great for disgruntled drivers, the city’s finances suffered a blow, and in November 2010, the Finance Department announced that it would end the policy.

New York ­ Councilman David G. Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) criticized the Finance Department for ending the discount program — adding that it helped the department collect on the fines “because of how effective it was in providing incentive for drivers to immediately pay their tickets.”

He added that the city stands to lose out by removing incentives for drivers to plead guilty and settle their tickets — motivating them to challenge the tickets in court instead.

He noted that drivers win approximately 50 percent of the time when they challenge a ticket.

“During a recession, we should make it easier, not more difficult, for residents to pay their bills,” Greenfield said.