ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
Atlanta City Councilman Ivory Young has second thoughts about letting an outside company write parking tickets for the city.
"There's a lot wrong with the PARKatlanta contract," Young said.
Atlanta City Council approved a deal to hire PARKatlanta to assume the responsibility of writing parking tickets for the city during the depths of the recession. Many council members believed the plan seemed like a smart way for the cash-strapped city to generate badly needed revenue.
But that contract did not bring in the $5.5 million that council members hoped it would.
An arbitrator ruled Atlanta was only entitled to $1.5 million after the city tried to limit PARKatlanta's enforcement authority. That left the city with a nearly $4 million budget gap.
Councilman Young said the contract was a bad deal.
"It gave too much authority to an agency to do what we used to do in house," Young said.
Last year, the city called a one-month moratorium issuing parking tickets and the council rejected a proposal to write tickets 24 hours a day earlier this year. Young said all of that cost the city a lot of money.
"The moratorium we had established got in the way of what was anticipated in the expected revenue," Young said.
Taking 24-hour enforcement off the table also contributed to the gap, Young said.
The city cannot terminate the contract with PARKatlanta, however, because it would cost $8 million to end it prematurely.
"If you thought a $4 million pill was tough to swallow, try doubling that," Young said.
Council members Monday approved a hike in parking fines to cover the budget hole.
Violators will have to pay $35 dollars initially, $95 if they do not pay within 45 days.
Councilman C.T. Martin hoped the increase would be enough to cover the $4 million gap.
The increase for parking fines goes into effect July 1.
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