$120,000 more than expected has been raked in by Ashburton District Council for parking fines, this despite a lower number of infringements.
Council figures reveal that the value of parking infringements exceeded the annual budget by $124,567 in 2024/25 following government-enforced price increases in October.
The total amount taken in was $574,217, up from the $502,513 in 2023/24.
But the number of infringements issued was 6100, 35 fewer than the previous year.
Compliance and development group manager Ian Hyde said the reason for the big hike was the Government increasing parking infringements and towage fees in October, and that the council’s budget was set before the increase.
The budgeted total for tickets in 2025/26 is $328,393, but Hyde said the estimated value of tickets issued based on this year’s ticket numbers is estimated to be around $590,000.
“It must be noted that once tickets go to court, we only get paid when the Ministry of Justice receive payment,” Hyde said.
“There will always be a timing issue in the accounts due to the timing of payment of the court fine portion.”
That also means the amount issued will not always equate to the revenue received.
Figures supplied by the council showed since the changes came in, 44 people were fined for illegally parking in a disabled car park, which is a $750 fine up from $150.
Around 2000 people were fined $200 (no change) for not displaying a current WOF, and just over 1100 people were caught exceeding a 30-minute park, a $20 fine that was previously $12.
The increase in revenue was noted at the recent activity briefing on July 30.
Councillor Richard Wilson said he felt the higher fines would be “changing behaviour” around parking.
“People would say it’s a revenue gathering thing for councils, but are the higher fees changing behaviour because we should see this come down then in the future?”
Chief executive Hamish Riach said the council “would have expected that, but we are seeing revenue up”.
The fine “adjustment sounded dramatic” but they hadn’t been altered for a long time Riach said.
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Parking enforcement changes
The council had decided to look at alternative options.
Hyde said the council is aware of new solutions being offered in other Councils.
“As part of the action plan within the Council’s Parking Management Strategy, we’re required to look at potential monitoring solutions.
“We’re in the early stages of investigation at this time, and no decisions have yet been made on this type of service for Ashburton.”
Local Democracy Reporting recently revealed the Hastings District Council’s fine sweeper – a camera-covered car that catches out overstaying parkers – had snapped more than 5000 vehicles in five months.
Using licence plate recognition technology, the vehicle, driven by parking officers who issue the tickets, pinged 5326 vehicles for parking infringements in Hastings and Havelock North from January 1 to June 1.
Ashburton council’s CBD upgrade, completed at the end of 2021, had originally included the installation of smart parking sensors.
Lengthy delays in the sensors getting into the country, and then with no guarantees they could be easily replaced, the council opted to cancel them.
Infrastructure and open spaces general manager Neil McCann said that the $97,000 that was budgeted for the parking sensors “would have been loan funded and paid off over the life of the sensors, so the decision to not proceed with the sensors effectively meant the loan was not raised”.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
