Last week, the Wilmington City Council passed an ordinance that reduces parking fines for early payments.
The fine is reduced for certain parking violations from $40 to $25 if the violation is paid within 14 days of issuance, eliminates the discount for early payment of civil penalties for certain parking and motor vehicle violations, and extends the deadline to protest citations from 20 to 21 days. The fiscal impact of the legislation will result in a reduction of $150,000 per year.
The early payment is $10 lower than the $35 charged in Newark. The penalty for late payments is a hefty $70.
Wilmington City Council unanimously approved the ordinance with At-Large Councilwoman Maria D. Cabrera as its main sponsor.
A version of the ordinance was delayed due to budget considerations. The new ordinance will come into effect on January 1, 2024.
“This is just one step of the overall parking reform that the administration has and is working on,” said Cabrera. “I was happy to lead the efforts on this particular initiative, having worked on this since my first term on council. We were not able to lower the parking tickets then, but we did legislate a seven-year statute of limitation in 2016.”
A recently released report said more needs to be done to reform Wilmington’s parking fine system. (Click on headline below).
