Hinsdale Approves Half-Price Amnesty on Old Parking Tickets

The Hinsdale Village Board has approved a plan to offer a half-price savings amnesty to anyone with an outstanding Village parking ticket more than 30 days old.

According to the Chicago Tribune, offenders would be able to pay off an old ticket for half the amount due; the Village is owed over $442,000 in unpaid tickets. The Village offered a similar program in 2009 and collected about $33,000 of the $335,000 owed, the paper said.

"A five-dollar ticket that's more than 30 days old goes up to $75," Hinsdale Police Chief Brad Bloom pointed out to the paper, illustrating that the amnesty would not reduce any ticket price below its face penalty, only the fines for not paying, and that the Village will be sending letters to people with outstanding tickets.

The measure was approved at the Hinsdale Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday night by a unanimous 5-0 vote. (Trustee Laura LaPlaca was absent.)

Read more on the plan at the Chicago Tribune website.