Massachusetts town weighs $50 parking fines as tickets remain cheaper than valet service

A proposal to double parking fines in downtown Nantucket, Massachusetts, is raising questions about how to discourage drivers from occupying spaces for hours without unfairly penalizing those who overstay by just 20 minutes.

Here's what to know

Nantucket's Select Board will hold a public hearing on Nov. 18 to consider a $50 overtime parking fine, twice the current $25 penalty and the most state law permits, according to the Nantucket Current.

Members of the town's traffic safety staff, including police chief Jody Kasper, transportation program manager Mike Burns, and fire chief Michael Cranson, recommended the increase, according to the Current. Parking tickets generate about $400,000 a year for the town.

The board agreed to schedule the hearing after a brief discussion in September.

More background

Select Board member Jill Vieth questioned why the town's valet service costs more than an overtime ticket. The service, at 5 Candle Street, charges $35 for a full day and $55 for overnight parking.

"Why would we charge less than the valet?" Vieth asked. "It's cheaper to get a ticket than to park in the valet. Don't we want to encourage people to park in the valet?"

What's being done?

Select Board member Bob DeCosta questioned whether a short overstay should carry the same doubled penalty as a much longer one. He pointed to drivers who expect to spend an hour downtown but return to their cars after an hour and 20 minutes.

"So, first of all, the valet only holds 100 cars, and there's a lot more (cars) than that downtown," DeCosta said. "Some people come downtown, and they only plan to be there an hour, and they're there an hour and 20 minutes, and they get a ticket. That's fine. I have no problem raising the rate, except I would want to just throw this out there. The first one is $25. The second one is $50, and so on and so on. Because there are people that get six or seven or eight of these in a day and just figure it's paid parking. The cost of the fine should escalate with the amount of time you take up a space."

According to the Current, town operations administrator Erika Mooney told DeCosta that the law did not seem to permit escalating fines. At the hearing, the board will review the staff proposal and explore that legal question before reaching a decision.

For Burns, the goal is to free up downtown parking spaces more frequently.

"I support the recommendation staff made to the Select Board as it aligns with their downtown parking management goal to stimulate higher turnover," he told the Current.

Where can I learn more?

Debates over transportation costs extend from Nantucket's parking spaces to toll roads and ferry routes.

• Agawam, Massachusetts, moves to raise teen e-bike fines and charge parents for repeat offenses.

• Boston's mayor looks to New York's congestion toll as a model for MBTA funding.

• Washington, DC's speed cameras generated $257.8 million in fines, exceeding New York City's total.

• In Massachusetts, ferry passengers could pay $17 more for cars as fuel costs rise.

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