This morning while walking my dog and picking up all the candy wrappers and other detritus left along Longcommon from the 4th of July parade (Maybe that could be a fitness program Rec could offer for some of our citizens who could use some fresh air and exercise) I looked at a few cars that I know have been in the Village every day for years and have no stickers displayed. I found four in a very short time - three with none and one with half a red sticker which was, I think, several years back. I remember a year or so back there was a move to collect back fees from those that didn't purchase a sticker. What ever became of that? And how is this done? I get eFlashes and see signs but I wonder how effective our enforcement and COLLECTION really is? I wonder if everyone who works for the Village, and all our elected offcials have them? Does anyone know? Care? I mean, since we are looking for revenue, there might be some owed that is not being collected.
Riverside Info » About Riverside
Who enforces vehicle sticker purchase?
(24 posts)-
Posted Monday Jul 13, 2009 07:24 #
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Without enforcement, there is no law.
That's not mine, but I heard it and remembered it from a while back. I was just thinking about that today as it relates to property maintenance in the village. The ordinances are there, but not enforced, so they might as well not be there.
Reminds me of taking care of kids.
Posted Monday Jul 13, 2009 13:43 # -
Chris it takes employees to enforce ordinances and Riverside has been cutting back on its various work forces for years. The chamber has requested that the police department enforce parking rules in the CBD for years to no avail. However if the police ever do enforce the time restrictions to parking in the CBD you'll have to find off street parking for the employees that work in the CBD. Hmmm. On a side note I was at a Distict Tournament for girls softball in Stickney this past weekend. A Stickney patrol squad car cruised through the parking lot and was ticketing residents without the current stickers.Riverside used to do the same many years ago. Annoying but effective.
Posted Monday Jul 13, 2009 14:02 # -
It has nothing to do changing personnel levels, but has been a problem as long as I have been living here, all through the years when staffing was expanding. I have encountered people who have lived here for years who didn't know they are supposed to have stickers; they have never received a mailing. Not all municipalities require stickers. I think if there were an initiative, first with a warning and amnesty, then followed by tickets, it would yield results and we could have someone focus on that for a few months. I have received the Village Bulletin only a few times in the years I have been here. There is an assumption that everyone thinks about or focuses on village rules. They do not nor should they be expected to.
Why don't you offer the empty parking spaces along your business to the employees of the CBD? Am I missing something?
Posted Monday Jul 13, 2009 14:27 # -
Last year the Board had the Village attorney trying to collect for back years, and some lawyer in town that never bought one or had aclient that never bought one - for years - was objecting or countersuing or something. I would like to know what happened. I have no idea how many cars are registered here, or sleep here, or how many stickers they sell, but at $60 a pop, it might be worth looking in to. Suppose there are 500 cars with no stickers - $30K right there. We could rent Eric's lot for that.
Posted Monday Jul 13, 2009 20:01 # -
Found it, editorial from The Landmark:
http://www.rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=3&ArticleID=3748&TM=81489.03
Well, it looks like Riverside's plan to capture some revenue-estimated at between $120,000 and $150,000-by going after vehicle sticker scofflaws has hit something of a snag. While there may be a boatload of attorneys on the village board, there is a bigger boatload in Riverside as a whole, meaning that they were going to run afoul of one at some point.
The board ran into a tenacious one, it looks like, in Shannon Capone Kirk, who had the board on its heels last week, attacking the village's vehicle sticker late fee collection plan with enough ammunition to sink it.
I guess now we just need to review the meeting minutes from May 2008 forward and see how it was resolved.
Posted Monday Jul 13, 2009 22:01 # -
The attorney objected to the fact, if I recall correctly, that you cannot penalize people whom you failed in your duty to notify of the requirement. This is correct. It was a false assumption that people were wilfully avoiding the requirement, and a cheap shot to raise revenue.
It is quite simple I think to get a list of vehicles registered in Riverside. Then they can be matched up against the database of who has stickers. First warn, then ticket. Then you have the smaller matter of identifying vehicles domiciled but not registered here. I am sure there would be no shortage of volunteers willing to offer this information. In fact, I did it myself on one occasion. I don't know if it was acted on.
Posted Tuesday Jul 14, 2009 09:05 # -
Maybe some of the "Legal Eagles" that are not on the Board could take this on as a pro-bono contribution to the Village. I don't recall hearing much about anyone doing things like that.
Posted Tuesday Jul 14, 2009 11:03 # -
Actually, I think (and hope) that it would be difficult to find people who are eager to investigate their friends, neighbors and fellow residents. There's a big difference between calling the cops if you know someone is dealing drugs or abusing their children and poring over vehicle registration lists to find out who hasn't purchased a vehicle sticker.
Posted Tuesday Jul 14, 2009 11:32 # -
I think we have some laws - rules, that if you have a car you have to buy a sticker. The money is used for whatever. If I pay and you don't, well, do you think that is correct? Fair? Justifiable? When you were in school and you signed up for a class you accepted the rules for that class, right? I think if no effort is made to collect, then others will say "Why should I pay? So-and-so doesn't pay." And so it goes. It's always great when someone who has been evading it gets caught and then feels remorse, but still won't pay. Why not, you had the car here, right? Why get a lawyer when all you have to do is pay the fine? How about saying, if you won't pay your share move elsewhere? Is that better? How do we make the system work if people have no reason to pay their share?
Posted Tuesday Jul 14, 2009 17:12 #
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