Those of you who try to weasel out of paying your parking tickets -- and you know who you are -- might find it hard to believe that some people actually pay twice.
Santa Monica officials announced this week that they will attempt to refund nearly $1 million that motorists have inadvertently overpaid for parking citations during the last three years.
The overpayments were discovered during a review of parking revenues, said City Manager P. Lamont Ewell.
Santa Monica is the latest city to grapple with parking overpayments. Many cities contract with private firms for collections and aren't always aware when parking violators pay more than once.
Finding those who deserve refunds could prove difficult.
About 80% of those who overpaid for Santa Monica tickets were from out of town. That could mean anywhere from Venice (the one in California) to Venezuela. Many were driving rental cars, further complicating the search.
Overpayments occur for different reasons, Santa Monica officials said. Typically, an individual might pay a citation after the due date and then pay a second time after receiving a balance-due notice. A spouse or parent might see a late notice and pay the fee without realizing that it had been paid.
A typical parking ticket in the city is $47.
In other instances, the Department of Motor Vehicles collects citation payments when someone registers a vehicle, even if that person has already paid the city directly. The DMV later remits such payments to the city. Often, the motorist fails to request a refund.
The California Vehicle Code requires that cities process refunds in a timely manner, said Robert Andalon, an analyst for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.
Santa Monica joins other cities that have tried to reduce overpayments. For the last few years, Culver City has used software that identifies a duplicate payment and kicks the check back to the person who paid twice. West Hollywood, which like Santa Monica uses Affiliated Computer Services Inc. of Dallas as its processing agent, requires ACS to identify overpayments so the city can issue refunds, said Oscar Delgado, the city's parking manager.
Los Angeles, which for more than 20 years has had a policy of actively refunding overpayments on the 3.2 million citations it issues each year, recently began offering motorists the option of applying the extra amount toward other outstanding tickets or requesting a refund. Santa Monica plans to do the same.
