Unpaid tickets top $521,000 in North Battleford as mayor questions fairness

“You can’t help but think we’re issuing parking tickets for people, and the only people that are really being penalized are people that honour the process, that are honest people to come in and pay a parking ticket.”

Hawtin asked whether outside support or changes to billing and follow-up procedures could improve collections.

Finance director Margarita Pena said the city had recovered $29,127 from previous years’ tickets through June. She described software that alerts community safety officers (CSOs) to vehicles associated with multiple outstanding offences.

According to the CSOs, when officers encounter a vehicle parked illegally, entering the licence plate into the software will flag any outstanding fees or fines associated with that vehicle. At that point, CSOs will give the registered owner an opportunity to pay the outstanding balance at City Hall before the vehicle is impounded for non-payment.

Pena said administration would “probably” recommend using a collection agency again for municipal tickets. She said new software could generate files for referral to a collection service, which would charge a fee.

For tickets issued in the first half of 2026, the report lists $188,949 billed and $103,313 unpaid at June 30 – about 55 per cent of the amount billed.

Hawtin also asked how North Battleford’s collection record compared with other municipalities. Pena said she had not followed other communities closely enough to make that comparison.

Leased parking stalls

In a separate discussion at the same meeting, the committee recommended higher permit rates for leased city parking stalls downtown, subject to council approval.

Annual permits would rise to $500 from $400, a 25 per cent increase, while six-month permits would increase to $275 from $200. A monthly permit would cost $75.

The proposed rates would take effect Jan. 1, 2027. They would be the first adjustment since 2018.

Administration’s report ties the increase to recovering the cost of building and maintaining the lots. It said shorter leases carry higher monthly rates because they require more administrative work and the stalls are less likely to be leased year-round.

Hawtin supported the proposed rates but sought a broader discussion about whether downtown has enough parking for employees and future residents. She pointed to zoning changes allowing residential uses in older buildings that often lack on-site parking.

She asked whether more city-owned land could be used for leased stalls and said insufficient parking could hinder development in vacant buildings.

“So I’m not suggesting that it is always for the city to take that on, but we do want to ensure we’re supporting downtown growth and development, and part of that needs to be parking,” Hawtin said.

Coun. Greg Lightfoot said some privately owned downtown parking lots were not being fully used. He urged the city to establish who owns those properties and why they are underused before developing more municipal parking.

The planning committee is expected to review the proposals and provide direction to administration, with final decisions to come at a later regular council meeting.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com

by Kenneth Cheung

Unpaid tickets top $521,000 in North Battleford as mayor questions fairness

Leased parking stalls

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