Chicago Fast Tracks Recovering Old Parking Ticket Debt Through State Tax Refunds
Windy City. City of Big Shoulders. The City that Works.
Chicago has a lot of nicknames but maybe taxpayers should start calling it the “Fastest City on Earth”–at least when it comes to collecting revenue.
Less than two weeks ago, the Chicago City Council passed a debt recovery ordinance which allowed the city to use the Illinois State Comptroller’s office to grab taxpayer’s Illinois income tax refund to pay for outstanding debt from parking tickets, red light camera tickets, water bills and other other overdue debt.
The ordinance became effect on February 15th, the day the Mayor signed it.
Immediately, in fact that same day, the city transmitted the required paperwork to begin the process of intercepting taxpayer refunds on behalf of Chicago according to Illinois State Comptroller spokesperson Michael Dropka.
“The City of Chicago sent data to the state after passing an Intergovernmental Agreement on February 15, 2012,” said Dropka.
Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka’s office began issuing notice letters to affected taxpayers as early as February 21st, according to people who have received the letters.
Many angry taxpayers began receiving the notices from the Comptroller a few days later.
I got a letter today from the state claiming Chicago is withholding $100 from my income tax refund for an old parking ticket,” says Glen Popelka who resides in the western suburbs. “I called the city to get the details, and the ticket is a parking in the alley violation from October 8, 1993. The clerk says I challenged the ticket and lost, but never paid. They can not produce evidence of the challenge.”
Some drivers have been confused by the widely reported promise that past due debts were limited to only as far back as 2005, while in several instances tickets being collected upon go back as far as 20 years. The city, according to one person confused why they were on the hook for a parking ticket from 21 years ago, explained that in some cases, Notices of Final Determinations were sent on the tickets back in 2005. So even though the ticket may have been issued prior to 2005, the debt still was collectable under the new law.
Other taxpayers never even received the notice and found out by checking the Illinois Department of Revenue website.
“I never received a notice,” says Katherine C., who asked her last name be used. “I filled my return with Rapid Refund and when my state (refund) did not come in and it had been a month I went to the Illinois tax site to check the status again. It said “processed no refund”, with an 800 number.”
But when Katherine called the state’s 800 number, she was told of the City’s effort to collect debts for past due parking tickets and was given a City of Chicago number to call, which further angered her.
“I have called the Chicago number because there are no tickets under my license,” she fumed. “I don’t remember my plate number because it was so many years back, and that (phone) number stays busy all day.”
According to Dropka, taxpayers can protest the city’s effort to grab their tax refund.
“When an offset occurs, a resident receives a letter explaining everything in detail (i.e. reason for offset, what is owed, process for protest),” explained Dropka. “When it comes to protests specifically, residents are instructed to submit their challenge in writing with any supporting documents.”
Dropka says the city does not get the proceeds immediately. By law, they have to wait at least 60 days from the notice date to allow the taxpayer to file a protest. If a protest is filed, a hearing officer on behalf of Local Debt Recovery will make a determination on the validity of the protest between 1 and 30 days, depending how complex the matter may be.
At the very least, this new state law and companion Chicago municipal code, could significantly delay a taxpayer’s state refund.
The good thing is, for me at least, I would have to actually get a state refund for this to affect me.
I havn’t gotten a state refund in years…
Greg….
Obama is in office still…what do you want to bet that Rahm and Barry are working with the IRS to do the same thing?
Would anyone want to join a class action lawsuit regarding this issue? If so, write me at BUT please specify “City & ASH” as the subject.
Would anyone want to join a class action lawsuit regarding this issue? If so, write me at “broncobob54@excite.com” BUT please specify “City & ASH” as the subject.
My alderman voted in favor of this ordaniance. We will have to have seminars.
It’s so frustrating to see such a misallocation of city resources. I can barely get the cops to come to my street when I need them, but the other day I got a parking ticket WHILE PAYING for parking! And the woman just said, “F*ck you, I’m just doing my job, if you don’t like it, you can contest it.” (Literally, she said that). I love Chicago, but this parking situation is such a pain in the rear end.
What is the name or number of this ordinance? does anyone know?
Received my refund check – minus $65 – for a ticket dated 8/19/1991. This crazy – although my time and efforts are worth more than $65 – I will be protesting the crap out of this one.
Your lucky Sharon… if that ticket had been issued in 1990 or earlier, you would have been charged criminally for not paying it.
You can protest the collection of the fine…but you should have protested/contested the ticket in 1991. Would have shown intelligence….instead of whining about something you didn’t take care of in the first place.
The only contact I have received is a letter on Saturday explaining that a $207.00 deduction have been made for Chicago parking tickets, to my state human service payment. This it not state tax refund. I paid parking tickets in 1993 and can not remember receiving any other parking tickets, so I will send a letter on Monday to dispute the claim.
I got my Humman services check this week it was short. The City started to deduct there over due parking tickets. I thought it was to be from state refund not wages. They told me to call 855-881-2301. I called and they said they can deduct the tickets from any city or state wages. What NEXT
I would like to file a complaint and see if this new state law is even constitutional.
THIS IS AN MONEY HUNGRY MAYOR. A ONE TIME MAYOR I HOPE , WE CAN PUT A STOP TO THIS AND VOTE KING COLE OUT.AND WHERES THE MONEY GOING DOES ANYONE KNOW ? LAVISH PARTIES, DID HE LOOK IN CITY HALLS POCKETS TO DOWNSIZE THOSE PAPERSHUFFLING DO NOTHING EMPLOYEES?
Same thing happened to me. I had 3 outstanding parking tickets (so they say) I know that I contested 2 of them by mail and never got a reply. Now I have to produce “evidence” that I contested these tickets. And if you have to take a day off of work to go and fight them, it cost you more in lost wages that just paying the fine. It’s a no win situation and they know it.
That’s it. I putting my property in the City up for sale. And BTW Chicago and Illinois has just turned 3 life long, card carying Democrats into full blown Republicans. Can’t wait till november.
Ok, I got a letter this weekend – - got through today (Tuesday the 6th of March) after a 48 minute hold. Was told that the reason the State was withholding $65.00 out of my refund was because of a ticket that I supposedly received on April 12, 1992!!! When I stated that I never received such a ticket and why wasn’t I notified at any time over the past 19 years, I was told “we don’t have to notify you of anything”. When I asked them to mail me a copy of the ticket, I was told that I had to put that in writing – - I was on the phone with the City about this ticket and they wanted it in writing??????
If you want more of your money confiscated from you every year, just keep voting for Machine Democrats. Not that Republicans are the answer to all of our problems, but it would be nice to see Chicago have a two party system again so that one party doesn’t get WAY too comfortable like the Democrats have.
Bla Bla Bla!!! Cry us a river you big babies!! YOU got the tickets. YOU refused to pay the tickets and guess what? It caught up to YOU and bit YOU in the ass! If you don’t want to pay your tickets then STOP getting them!I am thrilled you all got caught. I hardly ever get a ticket, but when it happens I pay it within the time frame allowed. Why you ask? because I’m not a procrastinating lazy ass. Thanks to you being FORCED to pay your fines via State taxes, we will now be able to have 50 more cops on our streets. Summer programs for kids can continue. John Alonso= Don’t let the City’s door hit you in the ass on the way out, one less deadbeat sponging off tax payers. As far as a lawsuit? Your lucky the city hasn’t sued YOU for unpaid fines! That is all for now.
Remedy, just wait until it happens to you. The city can claim it mailed a parking ticket to you, but where is the proof they did. How can the city just claim something with no proof. All the City of Chicago has to do is claim something to State and the State will automaticaly deduct money from your refund without the City having proof of such claim. That is plain wrong.
The City of Chicago is just plain lazy to try and collect on its own tickets so now it has the State doing it for them.
Get this. I get a pension payment direct deposit. Without warning, my direct deposit was not made. They mailed it instead and withheld the parking fees from the 90s that a family member got with my car. Here’s crappy part…since I was NEVER notified that they would stop a direct deposit, I had 11 bill payments that were auto-debits bounce. 275 dollars in NSF penalties. So, they deducted 600 for the tickets plus I had the overdraft fees. How can they do this without warning? I understand the need to garnish these payments, but how about a month warning. I received my notification the same day they stopped by direct deposit.
The 3 tickets I received were not of my own doing. I’ve parked at the metra train station on 115th street(Roseland)for over 20 years. When the police needed to make their quota they would come through the parking lot and give out tickes to people without placing a ticket on the car. Now that we have to pay at a pay box and get a receipt to show that we have paid, we no longer get tickets. Why in the world would I park at a bus stop and get on the train to work all day, knowing when I returned my car would be ticketed or towed. Did I have plans on paying any of these tickets? NO WAY. This angers me so much!!!
This money grab is a scam. The State and City of Chicago need to be taken to court over this practice. It is not legal just to take people’s money like this. Not paying tickets is a form of protest which is protected by the First Amendment.
i.am retired state worker. today i got my check mius 671.00 dollars.
reason they say will be given within 5 days.well i called retirement system to ask why they said i own city of chicago parking tickers,
city says i own 3 parking tickets from 2004.what happened to staue of limataions.i thought you couldnt take money from pensions.
There is no statute of limitations to the collection of a Municipal Fine.
However I am not aware of a policy that allows the state to withhold pension payments though without a hearing for garnishment.
Wait – are you telling me people are getting money taken out of their pension payments and human services checks…?
I thought this was just to come out of tax refunds.
Was this publicly announced or just something they started doing?
That;s what I’m unsure of Greg.
The only way to withhold from a Payroll or Pension check is if they take the individual case to a court and have a garnishment order.
The State Tax refund is something separate from going after payroll/retirement monies.
They took 591.00 from my retirement check and I never received a notice. How can they do this without telling people? These tickets are from 1998 and 2001. My husband just lost his job and I don’t know how we’re going to make it now that they did this to us. This can’t be legal.
Contact the Department of Revenue if you are having withholdings from Pension/Retirement Checks.
312-744-PARK
Ask to talk to an upper level manager or director.
Payroll garnishment Must be done with a Court Order on an Individual basis.
You also need to contact the Company/Organization/Agency that issues your Retirement/Pension Checks and demand a copy of (if any) the court order that allowed the withholding. No Court Order? Lawsuit and Felony Charges of Theft over $500.00.
Remedy_6 how can you say it caught up to you?
I’m like the person you described if I get a ticket I pay for it right away. I don’t wait, even less now with payments online. I pay for it immediately.
Believe it or not the city is not infallible, mistakes happen.
This is garbage who keeps receipts this long.T hey’re claiming I owe 2 tickets from 1995.
Rahm is toast. Getting charged for tickets that were dismissed and not recorded is beyond unbelievable. These guys are just crooks. I for one will make it my goal to leave this city as soon as I can. My last tickets came from violating parking time ordinance. No parking before 9pm. The time of the ticket 9:27 pm. Unbelievable.
I sold my car in 1994, and apparently I have 3 tickets, 1 in 1994 (after I sold it), and 2 in 1997 for the same car that was sold in 94′. I’m like everyone else, I pay my tickets as soon as I receive them for fear of getting charged double even triple. If the car was in my name and I knew about them I would of paid them off along time ago. It’s not my fault the city can’t keep up with their records. I lived in that city all of my life and never once did I ever get a boot on my car nor any proof of the tickets. This is pure BULL!!!! I have to now produce a bill of sale on a car that was sold what 18 years ago, come on who keeps that stuff? It is definetly a no win situation.
Chicago/Illinois can say whatever they like about “deadbeats” and such. I’ll take my money and go elsewhere. Remember that we are not citizens of this state and are not bound to it. We can leave this piece of garbage place and go to a respectable state.
IT DO SUCK,THE TICKETS IN QUESTION,ISSUED 1997 TO A PLATE NOT IN MY NAME,BUT MY ADDRESS,HOW IS THAT MY DAM TICKET.RAHM DONT ACT LIKE ONE OF US.FAIR PLAY,NOW I HAVE TO SPEN TIME AND MONEY,THAT I DONT HAVE.RAHM IS THIS OK WITH YOU.[JUST CHECKING].
Ah, Shitcago. Armpit of the planet and, of course, most corrupt city in the world. Why not take a little of that shady TIF money and actually fund something that does the public good, instead of making every driver a target for more revenue. I’ve lived here my entire 60 years and nothing changes. BTW, I’m here because, as of August, they have absconded with my refund of $400 and, as yet, have not applied it to my outstanding, yet questionable, tickets. What gives?
I recieved a letter from the city stating that the stae was withholding $606 from me for a car that was towed impounded and ticketed for an altered tag. The thing is, all this happened after i sold the car on 2009. So i wrote a letter of protest and found my bill of sale and sent in all my documents and evidence in may and i still havent heard back. How do i find out the status of my claim?!! Im innocent of this dispute and would loke my refund back. I was told it should be resolved in no longer than 6 weeks. I tried calling 855-881-2301 but it just rings and rings. Can someone help me with getting some contact information plz? I dont deserve this. This city is constantly in my pockets.
So i get ahold of someone in the comptrollers office thats able to transfer me to the same number ive been calling and magically someone answers. Now they’re saying that i owe almost $2000 and only withheld 600 cuz thats how much my refund was. Its been 3 months and my case is still pending and if they do grant a judgement in my favor, it will take another 6-8 weeks to see a check. Brrf!
Adjust your withholdings to make sure you OWE a little money for this year so you don’t get gouged on a refund again.
In my opinion collecting on tickets that’s 15-20 years old right now is pure greed. If it were owed it should have been collected then instead of when THERE ARE NO JOBS AND PEOPLE ARE LOSING THEIR HOMES AND CAN HARDLY FEED THEIR FAMILIES! I believe these tickets were paid and somehow they are resurfacing because who have proof from something 20 years ago. (Double dipping in the poor man’s pockets to put them further down -that’s cruel).
Lets pay all our parking tickets so the teachers and the rest of the fat cats can get bigger pensions and better benefits
I pay all my civil obligations…but didn’t think I needed to keep receipts dating from 1991-1998. They took $385 (+ $15 for processing) from me and still no answer to my appeal…a June 19th letter said protested monies should be released within approximately 60 days (now 105 days later).
I also found out that the Local Debt Recovery System was just created since this measure was passed. SO WE INCREASE THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT ONCE AGAIN. They should have used a collection agency…that way, taxpayers are not financially burdened with another form of government…and the city council and State of Illinois can find ways of getting businesses to stick around and stimulate job growth. FINE POLITICIANS WE HAVE. Anyway, I’m going fishing…but I know where to find the leaches now.
The State State statute classifies parking tickets as a civil procedure/lien against property, If that is the case then doesn’t the fair debt and credit collection act have a standing?
Talk ab out a bunch of crap. I didn’t even have a parking ticket. I am a state employee. I went to a local college an I dropped my courses almost immediately. I only went for one hour. This was 3years ago. Then I got my pay check yesterday and it was over $300 short. I never got a letter or anything. Just a shock from my pay. I had to call my payroll to see what happened and they referred me to a state capital number who gave me the 855 number. There wasn’t even an offset on my state taxes or anything. I would of been happy to work something out then to zap my pay with no notice. Is there anything I can do?
I paid all my bills on time since I was here. Now, I got a bill saying I own $500 in citations which all during the time I lived in Chicago for 3 years back in 97 to 99. There must be something wrong. I got the ticket and paid and that’s it. What I gonna do now?
FA,
Geez, this is a tough one.
Any idea how you paid? Check? Credit card? Any chance in hell you still have receipts?
If you paid by check, you might be able to beg someone at your bank to pull records from that time. Might be tough. Same with credit card payments.
If you live outside the city, it’s hard for them to do much of anything to you.
Thank you Parking Ticket Geek. I just received a notice from 12 years ago, I’m not even sure I was still living in Chicago then. My only question would be, how long does this crap stick on my credit report? I don’t live in Illinois and the City of Chicago can bite me.
EW,
Parking tickets don’t usually make it onto a credit report. At least to people at the credit reporting agencies I’ve spoken to. The usual way parking tickets or red light tickets make it onto a credit report is if there’s a lawsuit to recover money owed.
So, if you owe a few hundred bucks in parking tickets, the chances it is on your credit report are slim.
However, if you owe a few thousand and the city files a lawsuit and gets a judgment, than it hurts your credit.
So, if were talking a a few tickets, I wouldn’t sweat it.
Good info. Too many people are so paranoid about their credit report they will pay any bogus bill that shows up for fear of being sent to “collections”, as if it is an actual place. The system is easily workable, if you are informed enough to work it.
So today i get a letter in the mail from debt collecter for unpaid parking tickets from 1997. Call the agency have to leave messages to have someone call me back. Noone every calls back had to call more than thirty times to get a hold of live person. Finally when i get a hold of live person. I explain my story i never received any tickets on my car in the city on that day they were street cleaning and it has been 15 years now i should of been notified way before now. She goes on to say thats my problem you owe 244.00 for tickets that have my name spelled wrong and i have run out of time to fight them. But i never received any information about owing them money til today cause if i had i would of been glad to pay the fifty dollar fine over 244.00 fine it is now. THIS IS BS and the city of Chicago likes to scam everyone to make more polticians pocket fat. Just ridiculous!!!!!
Jenny,
If they’ve misspelled your name than YOU don’t owe the money.
John Smith is not the same person as John Smyth.
Tell them you’re not that person. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe they have the wrong person.
That’s what I would do.
Tell this bullshit debt collector to “put up or shut up” (there’s a legal name for this kind of letter). They would have to either sue you or drop the matter altogether. They won’t be able to prove a debt from 1997 so they will drop it.
Good advice Pete.
The truth is, if the debt is only a few hundred bucks, they’re not going to file a lawsuit for that amount. It’s not worth their time.