Item - 2011.GM5.6

This report recommends the introduction of a Fixed Fine system for parking offences (excluding accessible/disabled parking offences).  A fixed fine system will help to optimize the use of the City's courts by reducing the number of trials that must be scheduled for parking ticket recipients who request a trial but who do not intend to dispute the charge and hope simply to obtain a reduced fine amount, or who request a trial in hope that the issuing officer will not attend court and the charges will be withdrawn.  Making more efficient use of the available court capacity for parking tickets will in turn reduce the time to trial for parking ticket recipients who wish to have a trial.

A fixed fine will apply where a parking ticket recipient requests a trial, and the trial results in a conviction, (i.e., the defendant either pleads guilty or is found guilty at trial).  Fixed fine amounts would be $12.75 higher than the existing set fine amount that appears on the face of the ticket.  The fixed fine amount parallels the existing structure set out in the Provincial Offences Act that allows $12.75 in court costs to be added to a parking ticket fine where a trial has been requested and the defendant fails to appear in court.  Where a parking ticket recipient requests a trial and is found not guilty, no fine is imposed.

This report also recommends reducing the set fine amount for accessible parking offences (previously referred to as disabled parking offences), from $450.00 to $300.00, which is the minimum fine which the City of Toronto Act, 2006 requires for that offence.