Tech Adjusting Fines To Punish Repeat Violations

Tennessee Tech is increasing parking fines to discourage students from repeatedly violating the rules.

News and Public Relations Director Jonathan Frank said the changes came from a proposal created by the school’s Student Government Association (SGA) and Student Parking Committee. Frank said many of the parking fines will stay the same as the primary focus of the change is to address students with multiple infractions.

“For example, if you park in an unassigned area, the first time fine for that is still twenty dollars,” Frank said. “It was twenty dollars before, it’ll be twenty dollars after, but whereas in the past there was a ten dollar fee for repeat violations, that is now fifteen dollars.”

Frank said the SGA proposed the change after students spoke out about the number of students choosing to violate the school’s parking regulations and pay the fine instead of purchasing a parking permit. He said fees have also increased slightly for parking on grass, sidewalk, and in a loading or no parking zone, as well as for obstructing traffic.

“I think there were some that noticed that there were occasional instances of classmates maybe not purchasing a permit or violating a parking rule and saying, ‘I’ll just pay the fine,'” Frank said. “Because the fines are pretty inexpensive.”

Frank said they believe it is a common-sense plan that will support a safe campus and a better on-campus experience for both drivers and pedestrians.

“If you pay for a parking permit, you want to know that you’ll be able to have a pleasant parking experience on this campus,” Frank said. “And our Student Government Association and our Student Parking Committee members believe that these small changes to parking fines would be a way to help accomplish that goal.”

Frank said the amount the fines will increase was determined by the SGA before the proposal was voted on by Tech’s Board of Trustees on June 20.

“I imagine that there was, you know, some input and assistance there from our business office,” Frank said. “But again, these are pretty modest increases. In some cases it’s, you know, maybe a five dollar increase to the fine for repeat violations, so these are small changes.”

Frank said the new fine system will be implemented at the start of the upcoming fall semester.