City Audit Finds Oakland Improperly Holding Money from Overpaid Parking Tickets

In 2010-11, Oakland failed to return or notify motorists of more than $300,000 in overpaid parking tickets in violation of state law, according to a report from City Auditor Courtney Ruby released Thursday.

While the investigation into the city’s parking management system found that recent changes have led to improvements, auditors still found an “unresolved difference of $345,000 between the City's books and the new system, a potential loss of $27,700 due to improperly recorded tickets, and delays in noticing citizens.”

Here’s more from the release:

“It’s safe to assume that the total dollar figure of overpaid  money is significantly larger since my Office only looked at one year, yet found more than $300,000 in non-reimbursed funds,” Auditor Ruby said. “Thankfully, as a result of this audit, the Administration has agreed to put a refund process in place. However as the City Auditor, it is very disturbing that Management has failed to question this practice up until now.”

“Another important audit finding is the Administration’s decision to not inform the City Council of the approximately $545,000 lost from extending the courtesy period people have to pay their parking tickets (from 32 days to 42 days). While this decision was within the administrative scope of Management, the audit determined that a financial decision with consequences of this magnitude should have, minimally, been noticed to the City Council - especially in a climate where the City Council has had to increase parking fines and expand paid parking to generate revenue.”

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