COEUR d'ALENE — Outstanding parking fines in the city of Coeur d'Alene are slowly trickling in, with officials reporting $20,000 of an estimated $350,000 being received in the last three weeks.

A more poignant penalty might await repeat violators.

In November, the city of Coeur d'Alene sent out 8,400 letters for nearly 24,000 citations, indicating the vast majority of people were multiple offenders. The letters warned violators that if they don’t pay their fines by the end of the year, the matter will be sent to a collections agency. Deputy City Administrator Sam Taylor, who is tightening the city's parking rules, told The Press Monday he thinks sending the letters has helped collect fines.

"Obviously these people weren’t paying in the first place, so to collect $20,000 in fines is a great positive, which will benefit our maintenance of the parking system as well as our parks system, since this revenue goes directly back into those community assets," Taylor added.

One individual had amassed 221 parking citations over three and a half years, Taylor said.

Before sending the 8,400 citation letters, Taylor said, the city worked with the Idaho Transportation Department in July to compile a database of addresses associated with the license plates of offenders. Since the letters weren’t mailed until November, Taylor said it’s quite possible some people may have already paid their past-due parking citations.

If that's the case, Taylor said they can disregard the letter they received from the city, but encouraged those individuals to also double-check with the city to ensure the fine was taken off the books.

Those who are unsure if they have an unpaid ticket can input their license plate number on www.diamondparking.com to check.

"Parking is a finite resource and when some people abuse that system it takes away parking from others," Taylor said. "Parking is part of our economic development system and we need to ensure more people have the opportunity to take advantage of parking to enjoy downtown — both for our amazing outdoor amenities and our local businesses."

This month, Taylor said he will also propose a new ordinance to the city council which, if approved, would place those with four or more parking tickets more than 45 days old on a "scofflaw list." Those placed on the list, which would appear on the city's website, may have a boot placed on their vehicle should they once again violate the city's parking rules.

"The boot would not be removed until they paid their citations," Taylor added.

The new ordinance, according to Taylor, will be voted on by the city council during its second regular meeting in December.