Fines for City Ordinance Violations (H 5693)

We opposed legislation which would allow municipalities to record liens against a person’s property if they failed to pay any municipal fines – including for parking violations or minor offenses like disorderly conduct – within 90 days. Our testimony noted that this is an extraordinary punitive penalty against residents for violations of minor ordinances over potentially very small amounts of money, which could increase exponentially when interest and other costs are added on. This bill died in committee.