City parking fines targeted for increase

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on January 24, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Lethbridge city council will be asked to give first readings to a pair of bylaws at today’s meetings.
Bylaw 6393 is a parking fine amendment to Traffic Bylaw 5834 which will increase parking fines from $25 to $50 while maintaining a $15 reduction if payment is received by the City within seven days of the offence.
This change in parking fines is an initiative that council approved while acting as Economic Standing Policy Committee during budget deliberations in November.
Presently, the traffic bylaw has three schedules with fines of $25, $30 and $50. The City says one flat fine of $50 will encourage compliance and make applications of fines simple.
A comparison of similar-sized municipalities shows Lethbridge has among the lowest parking and traffic-related fines.
“Increased parking fines will result in increased compliance and an increase in parking revenue without a parking rate increase. This could result in enhanced level of service by increasing parking turnover,” says a submission to be made by traffic engineering & planning manager Ahmed Ali.
If council gives first reading to the bylaw, second and third readings will come before it on Feb. 7.
Council will also be asked to give first reading to Bylaw 6388 – the Downtown Business Improvement Area (BIA) tax bylaw.
This bylaw authorizes council to impose a tax on all businesses operating in the downtown BIA to collect an amount equal to the BIA board’s budget. The budget has to be approved by council by March 30 of each calendar year to give administration enough time to pass the bylaw, says a submission to be made by Property Tax Manager Kerry Boogaart. Second and third readings would be scheduled for Feb. 7 if today’s first reading is approved.

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