Close

Memorandum: Total Cost of Three Selected Categories of Unpaid Fines and Charges in New York City

Highlights

Before 2020, on average, 10 percent of penalties for parking and camera-generated violations went unpaid each year. In 2021, that number grew to 24 percent, and 29 percent by 2022.

Over $2 billion of unpaid penalties from a six-year period is due to New York City. The Independent Budget Office (IBO) calculated the total amount of unpaid fines and charges that originated from 2017 through 2022 from three sources: parking and camera-generated violations, lienable property charges, and penalties adjudicated by the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH). During the pandemic, IBO found an uptick in unpaid penalties for camera-generated and OATH violations.

You can read the full text here.  

Key Findings:

  • Over $1.02 billion in unpaid fines for parking and camera-generated violations were imposed from 2017 through 2022.
  • Parking and camera-generated violations increased in 2021 and 2022, growing by 33 percent in 2021 and 21 percent in 2022.
  • The New York City Police Department has over $10 million in unpaid penalties for violations from 2017 through 2022.
Jacob Berman and Bernard O’Brien
The City Of New York Independent Budget Office
Close