A New York City councilman introduced a bill last week that would see wealthy residents pay higher fines for civil violations like double parking and littering.
Justin Brannan, chair of the Council’s finance committee, wants a sliding-scale program to be instituted that would see fines charged in proportion to an individual’s income. Fines for civil violations tend to vary from around $50 to a few hundred. Brannan’s proposal is a pilot program and the exact details would be decided by city officials if it ends up being instituted.
Versions of day-fine programs have been instituted in other countries and other parts of the U.S. but they generally focus on felonies or misdemeanors, not civil offenses.
“In order to effectuate the purposes of this local law, such rules may permit civil penalties to be assessed in amounts less than the minimum penalty set forth in local law or by rule, or greater than the maximum penalty set forth in local law or by rule, for the duration of the pilot program,” read the proposal.
“To the greatest extent practicable, such pilot program shall not require a respondent to attend an in-person hearing in order for such respondent’s income to be taken into account in assessing a civil penalty,” it continued.
The bill is not expected to come up for debate until the city budget is wrapped up this summer.
“People just feel like they are being squeezed from every end, and there’s no end in sight,” Brannan told the New York Times. “If someone in the middle class gets a ticket, that’s a serious issue for them to figure out how to pay. But the guy across the street is racking up tickets and doesn’t care, because he can afford it.”
Brannan said he thinks wealthy New Yorkers are not bothering to pay fines and that increasing the fees could be an effective deterrent.
The pilot program would last at least a year and apply to ten or more local laws. After the two-year anniversary of the effective date, the agencies involved in its implementation would submit to high-ranking city officials a report on the results of the program including an answer to the question of whether the pilot program is “likely to promote equity in the enforcement of local laws and ensure that civil penalties adequately deter persons of all income levels.”
A city official privately told the Times there are a number of issues that would make implementing the bill difficult. New Yorkers can already pay off some fines with community service and many summonses are issued to businesses, rather than individuals.
New York City is owed over $2 billion in fines from civil violations committed since 2017, according to a recent report.