Something you didn’t know about Detroit parking fines

If someone spends an afternoon driving through Detroit, it is clear that there are more parking garages, street meters and surface lots downtown than people who actually want to park there.

But… did you know that the city of Detroit spends more money issuing parking fines than it collects from them?

In the Detroit News there’s the following paragraph: “The city is paying $32 to issue and process a $30 parking violation, and it hasn’t adjusted rates since 2001. On top of that, about half of Detroit’s 3,404 parking meters are not operating properly at any given time, says [Emergency Manager Kevyn] Orr’s spokesman, Bill Nowling”.