DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO STIPULATED FINE PROGRAM

Changes Will Reflect Updated Experience and Mayor Adams’s Policy Goals

Stipulated Fine Programs Provides Efficient Means to Hold Fleet Owners Accountable at Reduced Cost to the City

New York, NY — The New York City Department of Finance today announced an updated schedule of fines as part of its Stipulated Fine Program. The new schedule of stipulated fines reflects updated information on dismissal rates for adjudicated violations as well as traffic policy goals of the Adams administration.

The changes to 10 stipulated fine infractions are shown below. Fines for double-parking, standing in commercial meter zones, and missing or expired registration and inspection stickers will be increased. Double-parking, for which over 120,000 tickets were issued to stipulated fine participants, will be increased from the current $35 to $65, bring in an expected $3.6 million in additional fine revenues. The increase results from a tighter NYC Department of Transportation rule governing “expeditious deliveries” enacted in March 2020. The new rule has led to more double-parking tickets being upheld in hearings on violations issued to commercial vehicles.

Stipulated penalties for an additional 18 infractions would remain unchanged. In addition, one current infraction included in the Stipulated Fine program, No Standing in a Designated Bike Lane, will have its stipulated fine set at full violation rate of $115. All participants in the Stipulated Fine Program will have to pay the entire fine amount regardless of the results of hearings for commercial companies.

“These changes in stipulated fines will ensure that fleet owners participating in the program are paying at the same rate as all commercial companies, based on DOF hearings experience,” said Department of Finance Commissioner Preston Niblack. “That allows both the City and fleet owners to avoid the time and expense of hearings, while holding fleet owners accountable.”

The Stipulated Fine program was created in 2004. Fleet vehicle owners may sign up to participate; tickets they receive on their vehicles are charged at a discount to the face value of the fine in return for their waiving their right to a hearing on the tickets. The discount is determined based on the dismissal rate for the same violation in adjudicated hearings for non-participating companies, who are typically represented at adjudication hearings by commercial parking ticket brokers. Total revenue collected is thus what would be expected if such hearings were heard by Administrative Law Judges, without the cost and time associated with a hearing.

Vehicle Code Section	Description	Base Fine	Current Stipulated Fine	Guilty Rate 9/1/20- 8/31/2021	Proposed Stipulated Fine
31	NO STANDING-COMM METER ZONE	$115	$35	70%	$80
46	DOUBLE PARKING	$115	$35	58%	$65
70	REG. STICKER-EXPIRED/MISSING	$65	*$40/30	83%	$60
71	INSP. STICKER-EXPIRED/MISSING	$65	*$40/30	87%	$60
13	NO STANDING-TAXI STAND	$115	$100	62%	$70
14	NO STANDING-DAY/TIME LIMITS	$115	$100	79%	$90
37	EXPIRED MUNI METER	*$65/35	*$40/30	54%	$35/30
38	FAIL TO DSPLY MUNI METER RECPT	*$65/35	*$40/30	66%	$40/25
74	FRONT OR BACK PLATE MISSING	$65	*$40/30	15%	$25
82	COMML PLATES-UNALTERED VEHICLE	$115	$100	71%	$80

*Higher amount for Manhattan 96th Street and below; lower amount for Manhattan above 96th Street and other boroughs.