Huntington eliminates payment plan for 'booting' violations

Huntington Town will now require full payment of outstanding penalties, fines or fees owed related to all parking immobilization violations.

Vehicle immobilization is impounding or incapacitating a vehicle without consent of the owner, popularly known as "booting."

Town officials said omitting a timeline to pay immobilization violations strengthens the town’s ability to deter parking violations and recover costs of vehicle immobilization. Having a vehicle immobilized can happen under three circumstances: The vehicle is abandoned on a town road or property or a lot where the town has enforcement jurisdiction; the vehicle owner has three outstanding/unpaid parking summonses; and the vehicle owner has more than $500 in unpaid parking summonses.

Town Supervisor Chad Lupinacci said it’s a way for the town to recoup money it’s owed.

“Administratively it was hard to collect the revenue if you had a payment plan,” Lupinacci said. “A lot of times people wouldn’t continue to pay the plan, so we’re asking to remove the payment plan and be paid upfront.” 

Town officials said a vehicle has not been booted in two years, but omitting the payment plan encourages immediate payment of parking tickets, adherence to parking rules and turnover of parking spaces.

Town officials said sometimes people take years to pay the town back for parking violations. Last year the town was owed $1.8 million from almost 5,000 unpaid parking summonses and penalties. 

The measure was approved 3-2 at the Feb. 11 town board meeting. Town board members Mark Cuthbertson and Joan Cergol both voted no.

“I could not support a measure that places such a difficult hardship on our residents,” Cergol said. “Our families in suburbia highly depend on their cars to get to work, feed their families and escape from or respond to emergency."

"If banks and other creditors can see fit to offer payment plans for people having a hard time keeping up with their bills, so too can the Town of Huntington,” she said.