Airport wants county to red-flag car registrations of those with airport parking fines

Jeff Schweers

Wednesday, April 8, 1998 | 9:27 a.m.

Airport officials looking to recover more than $550,000 in delinquent parking fines have asked the Clark County Commission to create a new ordinance that would red-flag the vehicle registrations of local scofflaws who don't pay up.

If approved, the ordinance would allow airport officials to send a report to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, which would then prevent a car owner from renewing vehicle registration until they pay their outstanding fines.

The Commission Tuesday set a public hearing for 10 a.m. April 21 to discuss and vote on the new ordinance, which was introduced at the request of Aviation Director Randy Walker.

"You have people who ignore the rules and we want the message to get out to people that we want them to follow the rules," Walker said.

Parking enforcement officers issued 21,000 citations in 1997 at McCarran International Airport out of some 1.6 million transactions at the 6,000-space parking garage.

Almost 73 percent of those parking tickets were issued to vehicles registered in Nevada, and 21 percent of registered owners fail to pay their traffic tickets.

That's 4,600 unpaid tickets a year, with a maximum penalty of $120.

"Theoretically the value of total unpaid tickets is $550,000," Walker said. "Given the fact that a number of those tickets are to out-of-state residents, the collection rate is very low for people who don't comply voluntarily."

The minimum fee for a parking ticket at McCarran is $10, which goes up to $20 if it goes unpaid for longer than 10 days, Walker said. After 30 days the cost is $40, and after 60 days it's $120.

Airport officials conservatively estimated they could collect an additional $100,000 in delinquent parking fines if people are threatened with losing their vehicle registration.

"You don't expect 100 percent compliance with any system," Walker said. "But this is really an enforcement tool. It generates some revenue above the expenses but we're really trying to enforce the rules."

The airport is using a law approved by the 1997 Legislature that allows local governments that manage public parking spaces to issue civil infractions to parking violators. If those tickets go unpaid, the municipality can file a report to the Department of Motor Vehicles, which will then flag the owner's records and prevent them from renewing their registration until they pay up.

It costs $1 per transaction, Walker said, but it's worth it if the airport collects on half its outstanding tickets.

The airport also is asking to establish a user agreement with the DMV to gain direct, limited access to the motor vehicle agencies in 18 other states to better track down unpaid parking tickets.

Such access would allow for faster processing of notices to violators, allowing them to respond more quickly. Motor vehicle information is currently received through a third party, creating a long delay between the issuance of a parking ticket and when information is available to mail out notifications.

However, Walker said, the airport would have no power to prevent out-of-state owners from renewing their vehicle registration.