IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – The city council of Iowa City heard the first reading of a proposed ordinance to streamline the parking ticket appeals process Monday, Nov. 3.
The proposed changes would allow the city to respond more quickly to residents’ appeals to overturn the parking tickets, according to Director of Transportation Services Darian Nagle-Gamm.
She said the department recommended new policies based on discussions with about 10 other communities and parking enforcement entities.
“We found out that we are outliers in a few different areas, which might be contributing to a bit of our backlog and our slow – slower than we would wish them to be – responses to those appeals,” said Nagle-Gamm.
One of those areas is the current appeals board.
The committee consists of three people – a transportation services employee, police officer, and city employee – who schedule weekly meetings to approve or deny the requests.
Nagle-Gamm said the current system has existed for likely at least 20 years. If one person is out of the office for the day, current city code does not allow the board to meet regarding the appeals.
If the ordinance passes, it would be handled by individuals.
“We will have the real basic appeal requests managed by independent staff and if there’s more complex cases, those would be reviewed by more experienced operations supervisor who currently sits on the committee,” said Nagle-Gamm.
The change could help University of Iowa students like Moriah Mayberry get quicker responses.
“It’s taken literally like half a year, I would say, like I just got my appeal denied the other day from like months ago,” said Mayberry.
Another adjustment from the proposal – people would have to appeal their ticket within a week – which is down from the current 20 days.
Nagle-Gamm explained that the city’s parking app, ParkMobile, may have also caused issues in the past as it used to be difficult to switch between license plates for in-app payment.
Now, you can switch between license plates when you first open the app to ensure you are paying for the right car.
Additionally, following increased rates and fines in 2024, the ordinance proposal would raise the threshold for unpaid fines resulting in addition to the impound list from $50 to $100.
“This is making sure that the accumulated fines that would get a vehicle on the impound list moves commensurate with those increases from last year,” said Nagle-Gamm.
Ultimately, she hopes the ordinance, if passed, will help both the city and customers enjoy a smoother process.
“I think that the customer service benefits that we’re going to be able to provide to the community by overcoming these kinds of structural hurdles in our process I think are going to be a win for everybody,” said Nagle-Gamm.
The ordinance change will still need to be read at two more council meetings before a vote.
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