New Penalty for Unpaid Parking Tickets

The city of Marquette has hundreds of parking places downtown, many of which are free.

But some of the spaces most convenient to shops and offices have meters.

25 cents per hour of convenient parking in downtown Marquette seems like a good deal.

But what do you do if there’s a problem with a meter?

With 147 on-street meters, there are always a couple that might need maintenance.

Police Chief Mike Angeli suggests notifying the police as soon as possible if you notice a defective meter.

It could save you money if a defective meter leads to a ticket.

Tickets will set you back anywhere from $5 to $75 depending on the violation.

If you get 4 unpaid tickets, your vehicle is a candidate for the city’s new immobilization program.

Angeli says police would place wheel locks on your vehicle so that you can’t drive it, and only after paying off the tickets would officers remove the locks.

In the last 6 months, the city has been successful in collecting about half of the $500,000 that people owed in parking ticket fines.