COEUR d'ALENE — The City of Coeur d'Alene will begin working with a collections agency in an attempt to receive payment on more than 30,000 unpaid parking tickets.

Last week, the Coeur d'Alene City Council voted 5-0, with Councilman Ron Edinger absent, to approve a contract with Chapman Financial Services to collect on tickets that have gone unpaid over the last three and a half years, the maximum time period allowed under Idaho statute. The first step in the collections process, said Deputy City Administrator Sam Taylor, is to ensure the data the city has regarding unpaid tickets is properly processed.

"While we have 30,000 violations, it appears that many of those are multiple violations from the same person," Taylor added. "So we need to do some work to combine those violations into a total."

Once the data is deemed accurate, the city will send a letter, which Taylor said will go out by the end of October, to anyone with outstanding parking tickets from the last three years. If an individual owes more than $40, Taylor said the city is offering them a 25 percent discount should they pay their fines by Dec. 31.

If an individual owes less than $40, Taylor said they have until Dec. 31 to pay.

"If neither of those types of violators pay by Dec. 31, they will be turned over to Chapman Financial Services for collections," Taylor said. "A 33 percent collection service fee will be added by Chapman, plus their credit rating and history may be impacted. This will be well detailed in the letter so the consumer is aware, and we are required by state law to notify them of this."

In a report to city officials, Taylor wrote that the collection agency often receives 10 to 60 percent of the total amount of funds owed when it embarks on such projects, and estimated a 25 percent total return. Based on the 25 percent figure, Taylor wrote the city can expect to receive approximately $87,500.

The city will also be sending out similar letters, on a monthly basis, to new violators who have not paid their parking tickets within 30 days. Taylor broke down the new policy for parking violations as follows:

1. Diamond Parking will provide a list to the city of anyone who hasn't paid a parking ticket within 30 days.

2. The city will send a letter requesting payment. The letter will inform violators that if they don’t pay, their account will be turned over to Chapman Financial Services and a 33 percent collection service fee will be added. Their credit rating, the letter will state, could also be impacted.

3. If they pay, the process is complete.

4. If they don’t pay, they’ll be turned over to Chapman for collections.

City employees, Taylor added, are also working to finalize a draft ordinance that, if passed, would allow for the placement of immobilization devices onto vehicles that have four or more tickets within a given time period. Taylor said the city's Parking Commission has discussed implementing the use of such devices, which include boots, for more than a year.

"We're now going to work hard to finalize it and bring it to council," Taylor added. "We are working internally now on how the booting process would work with Diamond Parking."