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May 30, 2023

How much is a parking ticket in Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty

Coralville City Council more than doubled its fines for parking tickets in city

Coralville City Council more than doubled its fines for parking tickets in city limits as city officials say they are seeing an increase in such violations

The ordinance will raise parking fines to $25 and if a person does not pay not it in 30 days, the fine will increase by $5. The previous $10 parking fine went for more than two decades since it was implemented in 1999.

Coralville City Council passed the ordinance unanimously on three different votes between Dec. 13 and Jan. 10 and it went into effect Jan. 15.

City Attorney Kevin Olson at a meeting in December said the city has seen an increase in parking violations. He said he and Police Chief Shane Kron believe the $10 fee doesn't do a good enough job of "discouraging that behavior."

"That's why we got to this point here. We're trying to make it more of a deterrent to actually follow the parking laws," Olson said.

The additional increase in $5 after 30 days is a provision found in state code that cities have to adopt.

City Administrator Kelly Hayworth said parking violations are frequently occurring in the Iowa River Landing and the city gets a lot of complaints from people who have cars illegally parked in front of their houses frequently. He later mentioned it also occurs often in the older part of Coralville along Fifth Street.

"People just continue to gather more and more tickets because it doesn't bother them about what the price is," Hayworth said.

He told the council that people who feel they didn't deserve a parking ticket can contact the police department and contest it.

Mayor Meghann Foster said she thought the increase was a little high and Councilmember Hai Huynh said she was a bit concerned about the increase disproportionately affecting residents in apartments who are part of marginalized communities.

Foster gave her own family as an example and said her household has had their fair share of parking tickets when her teenage son doesn't remember to park their car in their driveway.

Iowa City fines can be as much as $25 in some places and as low as $15. The city code says parking in a commercial loading zone illegally can incur a $25 fine while parking in all other prohibited zones can cost $15 if not paid in the first 30 days.

Iowa City changed its ordinance back in 2009 for expired meter violations where instead of a flat rate system, a tiered system has been introduced that increases the dollar value of fines as the number of violations increases for an individual vehicle. Drivers get off with a warning on their first violation but it increases over time:

Every July 1, every license plate will start again with a warning if an expired meter citation is issued. Accrued fines will remain outstanding until paid.

North Liberty charges $10 for most parking violations unless it occurs in a handicapped parking space, a fire lane or violates parking rules during a snow emergency. The city also increases the fine by $5 if it is not paid within 30 days.

The University of Iowa campus has citation rates for parking violations that range from $5 for improperly displaying a permit tag to $200 for parking in a handicapped-parking space.

The full list of parking violations and the rates the university charges can be found at: https://transportation.uiowa.edu/parking/regulations-enforcement-and-appeals#citation-rates.

George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at (319) 214-5039, [email protected] and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge