Roselle offering ticket amnesty before crackdown

Following the adage that something is better than nothing, Roselle is going after more than $750,000 in unpaid traffic and parking fines by offering two months of amnesty before implementing further crackdowns.

Through July 31, offenders responsible for the more than 10,000 unpaid tickets and fines involving parking and red-light violations issued through May 2010 may pay 75 percent of their outstanding balance to consider their debt paid in full. Those eligible for amnesty will soon receive a letter from the village informing them of their status.

Once the July 31 deadline passes, the village will begin using the Denver Boot to immobilize cars driven by offenders with five or more outstanding parking tickets.

Once a car is booted, the owner will have 72 hours to pay the full amount of outstanding fines and a boot removal fee. If the debt remains after 72 hours, the vehicle will be towed and impounded while incurring additional fees.

Village Administrator Jeff O'Dell said the program was brought forward by the finance department in an attempt to clear its books.

“Much like every other municipality, we're doing everything we can to increase efficiencies while ensuring our expenditures match our revenues,” O'Dell said Friday. “So whatever percentage we get is good because that's money we're not paying a collections agency to chase any more.”

Roselle faces financial concerns due to flat property tax revenues, falling sales tax and the state budget crisis. It recently appointed trustees to a long-range financial planning committee that is examining all operations to see where the village can cut costs.

Any money collected, O'Dell said, will be put right back in the village's general fund in the 2011 budget to pay for key services such as police, fire and public works.