Last spring, Lorraine Freeman got several parking tickets totaling about $600 at UC Merced.
The 53-year-old undergraduate student was able to have them dismissed -- only to get a $445 ticket the next semester for failing to display her disabled parking permit. That ticket was reduced to $25 after she fought to get it dismissed.
The university's transportation and parking services entity is "a money-generating scheme," she said.
University officials say part of the money collected from fines is used to pay fees required by the state, and the rest supports the school's parking and transportation.
UC Merced's transportation, parking and fleet services issue an average of 400 to 500 parking tickets a month. That number drops during breaks when few students are on campus.
Collecting those fines is not a major problem, one official says. "Generally, most are paid," said Karin Groth, director of the department.
Over the last couple of years, the university collected $175,000 to $200,000 in fines, Groth said. But state-mandated fees take a considerable toll, she said.
"Whether it be for criminal justice funds, county funds, there's a jail trial court trust fund, state courthouse fund -- there are different funds that we as a parking entity are required to pay back," she said.
For each citation paid, $12.50 is distributed to various funds.
Campus citations range from $25 for not having a valid permit to $500 for misuse of a disabled parking placard. During the last fiscal year, 38 percent of the issued citations were appealed, and 65 percent of those were voided, given a warning or dismissed, said Brenda Ortiz, UC Merced spokeswoman. The rest of the appeals were denied.
More than half of those who didn't have to pay had been cited for a first offense, she said,
Lamar Williams, a senior at UC Merced, was among those who had a ticket dismissed last year. He got a $50 ticket for taking two parking spaces in the housing parking lot. Many other students got tickets for the same reason, Williams said.
He said the line dividers weren't clear and were covered with dirt. But for him, clearing the ticket wasn't a big deal. "It wasn't a major problem because they (parking services) realized it was their mistake," he said. "It wasn't as bad as I expected."
Officials do get complaints from people getting parking tickets. Groth said officials look at each citation individually.
Officials encourage people to come into the department's office and talk to Groth or her staff, as well as encouraging them to go through the appeals process. "People are always complaining, but honestly I take pride in having the opportunity to sit down with somebody who doesn't understand. A lot of times a lot of people complain because they are uneducated; they're not aware of what the regulations are," she said.
If a student fails to pay a citation, after a certain time a late notice is sent to the registered vehicle owner, Groth said. If the citation remains unpaid, that information is passed to the Department of Motor Vehicles, and a hold is placed on the vehicle registration.
In Freeman's case, a hold was also placed on her registration for classes. Even after she cleared her hold, it still appeared on her records, she said.
Groth said officials did use Freeman's citation to make a few changes on campus, such as letting disabled parking permit holders know where exactly those parking spaces are on campus. Also, disabled parking permits are not valid for reserved spaces.
Officials do their job in the best interest of students, faculty, staff and visitors, she said.
The purpose of parking enforcement is to protect the integrity of parking spaces for those who are paying for them, Groth said.
"Parking is not a guarantee on campus, so for those who are paying for them, parking enforcement is here to help ensure, to the best of our ability, that those spaces are open and available for those who are paying for them," she said.
There are about 2,500 parking spaces on campus, which include the 343 spaces in the new North Bowl parking lot.
In fall 2010, the university decided to allocate parking on campus on a tiered approach -- people willing to pay more can park in the lots that are closer to buildings. For example, faculty and staff who want to park closer can pay $65 a month for such a parking permit, while those who park on the edge of campus pay $30.
Students pay $30 a month to park in the commuter lots.
Money collected from parking permits and the rest of the money collected from citations are used to build parking lots and maintain them, as well as for alternative transportation programs, parking enforcement operations, administrative costs, salaries and benefits and enforcement hardware and software.
Reporter Yesenia Amaro can be reached at (209) 385-2482 or yamaro@mercedsunstar.com.
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