Winnipeg Parking Authority catching up on overdue accounts

MEDIA RELEASE:

WINNIPEG February 20, 2006 - The Winnipeg Parking Authority assumed responsibility for the collection of parking tickets from the Winnipeg Police Service last November, and the Agency is now beginning to issue monthly invoices for tickets, which include some long overdue accounts.

Unlike the process employed by the Police Service, which generated a separate letter for every offence with little follow up, the Parking Authority compiles all offences to an account holder, usually the owner of the vehicle. This means that vehicle owners may receive an invoice that identifies several offences. Account statements will be issued monthly, reflecting the process used by most businesses in collecting receivable accounts.

As this is the first billing based on this process, the Agency will be catching up on old accounts. The February invoices include all unpaid accounts, including some long outstanding accounts dating back as far as 1994. The Agency will be mailing out an estimated 81,000 invoices totaling $5.5 M for outstanding parking tickets over the next couple of weeks.

As the new custodian of the collection process, the Parking Authority has an obligation to bring closure to these accounts. “These are tags where a summary conviction has already been issued. In most cases, they comprise one or two tags – in some individual cases there are dozens of tags unpaid”, said Dave Hill, Chief Operating Officer, Winnipeg Parking Authority.

All of the outstanding tickets are considered to be accounts receivable to the city; they are either court or default convictions which were adjudicated long ago and are not open to further dispute either with the city or the provincial court. All fines have reached their maximum penalty amounts and there are no further penalties or late charges that apply.

“We realize that some of these records are very old, and our main purpose is to resolve outstanding issues quickly, conveniently, and equitably as possible” said Hill. “If our customers receiving invoices have new information for us regarding these tags, please send us a short note by mail or email. We expect our phones will be busy for several weeks.”

People receiving invoices who have questions about their accounts can call the Parking Authority at 311 or email 311@winnipeg.ca.

Payments can by cash, credit card or debit transaction in one of several ways:

• In person at the Parking Store, 495 Portage Avenue between 8:30 am – 7:00 pm., or Saturdays 10:00 am – 4:00 pm (cash, cheque, debit, credit card)
• Online – www.theparkingstore.winnipeg.ca (credit card only)
• Over the phone- 311 (credit card only)
• Drop off boxes are at all police stations (cheque)