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Parking Tickets: Where Does the Money Go?

According to The State News, the MSU Parking Office has issued 48,486 tickets since Jan. 1, including warnings and withdrawn tickets, compared to 23,212 issued by East Lansing Police Department since Sept. 1, 2016. The two combined to issue over 100,000 tickets in 2015 alone.

MSU Parking Operations Office supervisor Lynnette Forman said in a previous interview the office specifically purposes revenue generated by tickets for safety-related projects, such as the audible crosswalks for the visibly impaired. 

"There’s no goal or budget for parking violation funds, (rather) it’s the other way around, the projects are done based on how much money there is to spend," Forman said.

East Lansing's parking ticket revenue does go to the city's general fund,City Manager George Lahanas said in a previous interview, but any revenue generated is dwarfed by the cost of running the city's criminal justice system. Parking tickets only reimburse $1.2 million, or about 10 percent, of the city's $16 million criminal justice budget.

“They’re losing about $13 million a year if that was to make money,” Lahanas said.

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