Kalispell council keeps parking fine at $10

The Kalispell City Council on Monday decided to retain $10 parking fines throughout the city, throwing out a proposal to raise fees outside of the downtown district.

The council was considering raising the parking fine outside of downtown to $15 and maintaining the $10 downtown parking fine.

Councilman Phil Guiffrida offered an amendment after Police Chief Roger Nasset estimated parking tickets given downtown compared to outside downtown are at a 90-to-10 ratio.

“As things progress, with the bypass project underway, we may see something completely different in a few months from now,” Guiffrida said. “But the reality is $10 here and $15 here, realistically looking at a 90-10 ratio, maybe it’s just me, but $5 is not any more of a deterrent.”

“Just keep it straight across the board; I think it’ll be a lot smoother to keep it all at $10,” he said.

The Kalispell Parking Advisory Board had recommended the fee amounts earlier this month, choosing not to raise parking fees downtown so people aren’t punished for shopping in the downtown area.

Council member Tim Kluesner echoed Guiffrida’s stance on the outside downtown ticket fines.

“I’m a little uncomfortable about charging one area of town more or less than the other. It’s a fairness issue,” Kluesner said.

The council explored a few other amendment options, such as giving a break to vehicles with out-of-county license plates. City Attorney Charles Harball said it would be difficult to distinguish the origin of some license plates, but the resolution still allows for officer discretion on handing out the parking fees and court discretion on prosecuting the violations.

Guiffrida praised the Parking Advisory Board for the efforts and input on the resolution, but moved forward with the amendment.

 “We still have officer discretion and court discretion,” Guiffrida said. “Let’s just keep it the same.”

Both the amendment and resolution passed in a unanimous decision.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.