Elk Grove Village offers amnesty for parking tickets

Elk Grove Village is offering a one-time amnesty program for unpaid parking tickets through March 31, after which fines are expected to double and the village will aggressively pursue violators.

For just this month, the village is accepting full payment for parking tickets at the original fine amount without charging late fees or penalties. Once overdue fines are paid, the village's collection agency will inform the various credit bureaus. No payment plan is available for the amnesty program, officials said.

Late fees and penalties will become applicable after the program ends.

Village officials also recently authorized changing the village code to allow booting of vehicles with more than three unpaid citations. The previous threshold was anyone with five unpaid parking tickets within an 18-month period got booted.

Fines for unpaid parking tickets are expected to double - from $25 to $50 then $100 - starting April 1. Previously, a $25 ticket would increase only by $10 for delinquency.

Elk Grove residents are responsible for about 14,000 outstanding parking tickets. Overall, there are about 35,000 unpaid parking tickets, Mayor Craig Johnson said.

"We are going to go after Elk Grove residents first," Johnson said.

Elk Grove Village also will now conduct an adjudication hearing for anyone who fails to pay a ticket, rather than take violators to court.

Tickets may be paid between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Charles J. Zettek Municipal Complex, 901 Wellington Ave. Payments also may be placed in a 24-hour drop box or be mailed to village hall. For more information, call the Elk Grove Village Police Department records division at (847) 357-4136.