Call Kurtis Investigates: Roseville Issuing Outdated Parking Tickets
The City of Roseville has been issuing parking tickets printed with outdated fine amounts since late 2011, a Call Kurtis investigation has learned.
A California Public Records Act request found the City of Roseville issued hundreds of old parking tickets with outdated fees since October, causing some drivers to get late notices despite paying on time.
"My thought is somebody needs to blow the whistle on this," said Adam Thompson, who paid the $54.50 fee listed on his ticket only to receive a late notice saying he'd actually owed $62.50.
If Thompson didn't pay, he may be blocked from renewing his car registration, the late notice said -- and he'd need to pay a $20 penalty on top of it all.
"I was absolutely enraged," he said.
Thompson later learned his parking ticket was written on an old pad which didn't reflect those price hikes.
"I thought it was completely ridiculous," he said.
CBS13 has learned Roseville issued 886 outdated tickets from October 2011 when prices were raised until early May 2012.
At least 24 people were issued fines for the wrong amount only to be hit with a late fee.
"Whoever's responsible for this should no longer have a job," said Stuart Talley, a consumer attorney at Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff in Sacramento.
He said cities have a responsibility to charge no more than the amount on the ticket.
"All I can think is that it's just sloppiness on the part of the city," he said.
The Roseville Police Department raised the price of tickets last fall, after the State of California enacted an additional surcharge on all parking tickets in the state.
But why didn't the city print new pads with the correct fines?
"That I can't tell you," said Sgt. Cal Walstad, shaking his head. "Don't know right now to be honest with you on that."
Instead, officers were instructed to cross out the old ticket amount and write in the new fine, Walstad said.
But as CBS13 learned -- that didn't always happen.
"It was because of your viewer that we were able to have this brought to our attention," he said.
Updated ticket pads are expected this week -- the City of Roseville says it will only charge the printed fines on the old pads until the new ones arrive.
The City also dropped Adam's $20 late fee and won't make him pay the extra $8.
"My worry is that a lot of people are paying these fees and wrongly so," Thompson said.
Roseville said it doesn't plan to automatically go back and refund those who paid the extra fines. Walstad said people will have to complain.
