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Cities facing deficits hike parking fines

WASHINGTON, July 22 (UPI) -- U.S. cities desperately in search of more revenue are increasingly turning to strict enforcement of parking regulations, experts say.

In California, for instance, a statewide $3 surcharge was tacked onto municipal parking tickets starting Jan. 1, spurring cities such as Santa Monica to increase their parking fines, USA Today reported Wednesday.

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"For tourists, strict parking enforcement probably won't keep them away, so much as it will leave them embittered when they receive a ticket if parking regulations were poorly displayed or a meter was enforced with little or no buffer or if a fine was exceedingly high," Justin McNaull, AAA director of state relations, told the newspaper. "For suburbanites, parking tickets might dissuade some of them from going to certain neighborhoods if they fear overzealous parking enforcement officers."

"Cities are looking for as many avenues as they can to alleviate these budget shortfalls," said Martin Stein, president of the National Parking Association.

In Yonkers, N.Y., officials said fines for overtime parking were hiked from $40 to $50 in June to help pay for the city's $900 million budget, and are expected to bring in an additional $1.2 million in revenue.

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