Citations

It is always best to pull all local ordinances from the City’s website. The City Clerk’s Office publishes revisions any time ordinances are added or updated.

The schedule of fines is a section within the Parking Violation Ordinances, and can be found on the City’s website.

It is a parking violation/citation/ticket. The envelope may have the parking violation marked on the backside; otherwise, there should be a printed violation/citation/ticket inside the envelope.

Please read ALL information on both sides of the citation carefully before attempting any action. 

Yes.

Most violation fines escalation/increase after 15 days and others after 30 days depending on the base violation amount. Fine escalations max out at three times their base value. For instance if a base amount is $10, the maximum escalated amount would be $30.

Citations are deemed paid when received in our office. Post mark date is the only date considered. Our offices are open 7 days a week for walk-in payments, and you can always pay online.

Base amount payments received after an escalation is applied will result in an outstanding citation balance, and will continue to flow through the escalation and collection processes.

The City Collection Clerk continues to monitor any outstanding accounts throughout the City, including registered owner parking accounts. He will determine if an account needs to be submitted to the court and will file all the necessary paperwork. When parking accounts are submitted to the court, additional fees for services and processing are added to the outstanding balance. Court judgments may include wage garnishment.

Unpaid citations will be transferred to a collections agency and may be reported to credit agencies depending on state regulations.

Yes. The City has a contract with Citation Collection Services (CCS) in Indianapolis, Indiana. They work with other credit bureau agencies to collection parking fines in the state of Michigan and other states.

Citations are eligible to be sent to collections if they are not paid in full 120 days after issuance. 30% is added to the fine amount outstanding before they are sent. For instance, if your unpaid parking fine is $30, your fine will increase when sent to CCS, and your new fine amount will be $39.

The City also utilizes it’s internal Collections Clerk to prepare cases for court that may result in wage garnishment.

Yes. A vehicle is eligible to be booted when there are 6 unpaid citations or $120 outstanding for a registered owner.

When vehicles are booted, the outstanding balance must be paid in full or the vehicle will be towed 48 hours from the time it was booted. There are no additional fees for the boot, but additional fees are applied by the Towing Agency.

*A boot is a wheel locking device used to immobilize the vehicle.