Provo City offers alternative ways to pay for tickets

    68

    By Lacey McMurry

    When Jordan Gibb, a junior from Fairfax, Va., left town for Christmas break, he forgot about an unpaid $15 parking ticket. When he returned to Provo three weeks later, the ticket had tripled.

    Unsure how he was going to come up with $45, Gibb went to talk to city officials. He discovered there was an alternate way of paying for his ticket – one that wouldn”t leave a permanent void in his bank account.

    Gibb discovered a city policy that allows people to make up the cost of a ticket by performing community service.

    “It”s a really good deal for me,” he said. “Plus, it”s not like I”m cleaning toilets or anything. I get to help people.”

    This policy of allowing people to do community service as a method of paying for tickets complicates fee collection for city officials, said Sandy Bussio, Provo city hearing examiner. For this reason, people must know community service is an option and request it. Jody Meyer, 4th District Court”s chief deputy clerk, said a judge is the only person who can grant the request that community service be used as a payment option.

    Bussio said there are several conditions that must be met in order to qualify for payment through community service. People must first be able to prove a genuine lack of financial resources. They must also show they are not being compensated in any way for the service they are performing.

    City officials provide those performing community service with a compensation wage of $5 an hour. Regardless of the amount of the ticket, they only have 30 days to complete enough community service to pay for their ticket, Buccio said.

    “It”s a generous policy,” she said. “However, very few people take advantage of it because it is very time consuming.”

    Bussio said those trying to work off their tickets can work for a wide range of service organizations. They are allowed to set their own hours, but the organization they choose to work for must verify they have completed the service requirements.

    Students must also independently seek out their own service activities, Buccio said. Many students choose to work for organizations such as the Red Cross or United Way.

    Lindsey Merten, communications manager for the United Way of Utah County, said the organization does not have a record of how many volunteers are working to pay off tickets. She also said she hopes volunteers who have been appointed by the court to serve are also there with the goal of making a difference.

    “It”s important to remember the most effective community service is to volunteer for a long period of time,” she said. “We are happy certain situations bring volunteers to us, but we hope they will all go the extra mile.”

    Print Friendly, PDF & Email