LTC 124-2012 Parking Citation Collections m MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC #124 -2012 i
LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and
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Members of the City Commission r__ —<
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FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager =-
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DATE: May_71
SUBJECT: PARKING CITATION COLLECTIONS /MIAMI -DADE COUNTY — UPDATE
The following serves to provide the Mayor and City Commission with an update
regarding the Miami -Dade County Clerk of Courts efforts to increase parking
citation collections. As you know, the Miami -Dade County Clerk of Courts
processes, collects, and adjudicates parking citations for all jurisdictions in the
County. This includes collection efforts for unpaid parking citations.
On January 19, 2011, Commissioner Exposito inquired as to the status of unpaid
parking citations for the City. At the time, there were just over 300,000 parking
citations outstanding with a value of $5.6M. This includes outstanding parking
citations aged up to ten (10) years. Consequently, the Mayor and City
Commission expressed a sentiment to urge the Clerk of Courts to enhance their
collection efforts, specifically with regard to outstanding parking citations. On
February 22, 2011, Mayor Bower sent the attached letter to Mr. Harvey Ruvin,
Clerk of Courts expressing the sentiment of the full City Commission.
Historically, the Clerk of Courts has collected 2.4M citations totaling $31.5M over
the last ten years for the City of Miami Beach. Currently, as of March 2012, there
are 306,000 outstanding citations. The Clerk of Courts advises that over 50% of
these outstanding citations were issued five to ten years ago. Despite the age of
these outstanding citations, the Clerk continues its collection efforts with the
following enhancements:
• Mailing first, second, and final notices resulting in a half million notices and
reports sent to violators annually.
• Sending Registration stops to the Florida DMV.
• Purchasing and supporting of Autocite Ticket Issuing and License Plate
Recognition (LPR) System.
• Issuing Final Impound Orders against Scofflaws (20,155 in Florida and
3,784 out of state).
• Referring delinquent citations to collection agencies and received payment
on 29,510 citations out of a Miami Beach (system total of 93,475).
• Obtaining Florida and out of state tag identification from respective DMVs.
• Obtaining Florida; out of state, and out of country rental client identification
which transfers liability from rentals to clients.
These efforts have resulted in a collection rate of 90% of the City of Miami Beach
citations. This amounts to 2.4M citations totaling $31.5M over the last ten years.
The Clerk references that over 50% of the 300,000 outstanding citations were
issued five to ten years ago; however, they will continue their collection efforts
with the following enhancements:
• Approximately 20,000 notices were returned undelivered last year
although the address matched those provided by the DMV. The Clerk is
researching the possibility of the DMV instituting a new procedure to
require the addresses on the driver's licenses and registrations to match.
• Proactive communications with car rental agencies to identify areas where
additional information would lead to improved collections.
• Pursuing additional advantages offered by the internet such as the
currently existing link to a tow information hotline.
• Purchase and installation of a second LPR system for the City of Miami
Beach.
The following is an update regarding the LPR System detection and collections:
• Scofflaw Detection.and LPR System *:
FY 10/11: 1,332 Scofflaw License Plates detected and paid
resulting in $508,223 in collections*
• Second LPR System will be installed by July 1, 2012
FY 11/12: Projected Scofflaw revenue $571,000
Note: Scofflaw apprehension is reciprocal for all jurisdictions.
The Administration is pursuing a third LPR System to be funded by the Clerk of
Courts in FY 12/13.
If you should any further questions and /or inquiries regarding the collection
efforts of the Miami -Dade County Clerk of Courts, please contact Saul Frances,
Parking Director at 305.673.7000, extension 6483.
JMG /JGG /SF
C: Jorge Gomez, Assistant City Manager
Hilda Fernandez, Assistant City Manager
Duncan Ballantyne, Assistant City Manager
Saul Frances, Parking Director
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MATTI HERRERA 150WE02
MAYOR
February 22, 2011
Mr. Harvey Ruvin
Clerk of Courts
Dade County Courthouse
73 West Flagler Street, Room No. 242
Miami, Florida 33130
RE: UNPAID PARk1NG CITATIONS
Dear Mr. Ruvin:
At a recent Commission Meeting, a Miami Beach resident inquired as to what the City was doing
to collect unpaid parking citations.
1, as well as my colleagues on the Miami Beach City Commission, wish to bring this matter to
your attention, and hope you will share with us your proposed actions to increase the collection of
unpaid parking citations.
According to the County's Parking Violations Bureau, as of January 31, 2011, the City of Miami
Beach has over 300,000 unpaid parking citations with a value of over $5.6 million dollars.
Miami Beach, much like other dense urban communities, has parking challenges, which can be
attributed in part to non - compliance of parking regulations. An essential component is the diligent
collection of unpaid parking citations.
Although the implementation of new technology, such as the "AutoVu" (license plate recognition)
provided by the County, has promoted some increase to the collection of unpaid parking citations,
we urge you to continue these proactive initiatives and take more aggressive action in your
collection efforts.
Lastly, the County and City share these revenues one-third/two-thirds, respectively. The County's
fee (33 %) for processing, adjudication, and collections of parking citations is certainly generous.
The private sector offers these very same services at very competitive rates. It is our expectation
111 that the County's level of service is at least comparable to the private sector, If not higher,
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1 Any information you may need from our City will be willingly and promptly provided. Please let me
i know how you plan to address this very significant problem so that I may communicate with my
I colleagues on the City Commission.
Sincerely,
I Matti Herrera Bower
Mayor
C: Mayor and City Commissioners
Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager
Jorge Gomez, Assistant City Manager
Saul Frances, Parking Director