This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
If you've got an old Salt Lake City parking ticket that is haunting you, this could be your lucky day.
On Tuesday, Mayor Jackie Biskupski announced a 90-day parking ticket amnesty program that is designed to settle "extremely" overdue parking fines. But this applies only to citations issued before July 1, 2014.
Motorists who qualify would receive a discount of about 60 percent in exchange for a $10 donation online to YWCA of Utah, the Volunteers of America Homeless Resource Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah, Comunidades Unidas or the Utah Pride Center. Parking violators also can qualify by donating four cans of nonperishable food to the Utah Food Bank.
The average citation will be reduced by about $70, according to a statement from City Hall.
Biskupski first proposed the program in her budget address in May. Salt Lake City currently has some 22,000 parking citations that qualify for the amnesty program. City Hall anticipates settling about 4,000 of them and has budgeted $320,000 in revenue for the program.
"When this was first proposed to me by our finance team, it sounded like a win-win for everyone involved," Biskupski said. "While we will definitely measure the number of tickets we resolve, I think the true measure of success will be the money we raise for the worthy local charities being supported through the program."
Last week, the mayor's office launched a social media campaign encouraging residents to nominate their favorite local nonprofits to join YWCA of Utah, the Volunteers of America Homeless Resource Center and the Utah Food Bank that had previously selected to participate. Based on resident feedback, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah, Comunidades Unidas, and the Utah Pride Center also will be included.
Ticketholders can participate in the amnesty program by visiting http://www.slcgov.com/pcd and following the instructions for online payments.
In the coming week City Hall will mail notices to motorists with qualifying tickets. Citations not resolved during this 90-day amnesty program will be turned over to the state of Utah's collection program.