MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Morgantown Parking Authority Executive Director Dana McKenzie has proposed “Donations for Citations” to City Council members as a way to clear the backlog of unpaid parking tickets. McKenzie said he got the idea from a program recently done by West Virginia University and cities across the country.
McKenzie said this effort would benefit Pantry Plus More, pending approval from elected leaders.
“From 2018 to 2021, we have roughly 16,000 tickets still on the books, although our collection rate is roughly 93–94 percent,” said McKenzie.
McKenzie made it clear that not all parking violations would be eligible for the program. Parking in a fire zone is one example he provided that would not qualify for the program.
“What we thought we would start off with, being this is the first time implementing it, is that it would be two expired meter tickets,” said McKenzie. “So this is not going to be; if you park on the yellow, you park at a fire hydrant; this is only going to be for expired meter tickets to start, and there is no statue of limitations; they can be two or three years old.”
McKenzie said they will coordinate items in need with the pantry that will be displayed at the Parking Authority office. People would make the donation, and the ticket would be forgiven.
“I’ll give you an example; when I’ve talked to Pantry Plus, they said that a box of ramen noodles would be equivalent to one parking citation,” said McKenzie. “So you bring those items into our office, and we will excuse that parking ticket.”
McKenzie also said that this is a plan that works for the city and area service organizations; it could likely be used at different times during the year.
“If it is something that goes over well, we are even anticipating doing it again next August with school supplies,” said McKenzie.