Over $9M In Brookline Parking Tickets Unpaid

BROOKLINE, MA — The town of Brookline has more than $9.3 million in outstanding parking tickets, according to an audit by the firm Powers & Sullivan.

The audit, presented at a meeting of the Select Board Feb. 18, looked at the fiscal year ending June 30 and found that some $4.9 million of the overdue ticket balance was accrued in the last three years.

According to the audit, parking tickets should have been flagged at the state Registry of Motor Vehicles, which would have prevented offenders from renewing their licenses without having paid their fines.

In fact, Powers & Sullivan's audit proposed doing exactly that as a solution to the overdue balances and, in addition, creating a policy that writes off accounts that are deemed uncollectible.

Craig Peacock, of Powers & Sullivan, told Wicked Local Brookline the deficit could be caused by a number of factors, including college students who leave the area after graduating and an increase of traffic.

As for finding a way to collect the overdue amounts, Peacock told the publication another potential solution is sending them to a debt collector.

"It’s a hard decision the town has to make with what they’re willing to do and accept, but ... if they’re very old, the likelihood of collecting anything on them becomes slim," he said.

View the Brookline parking ticket audit.