Eight years after it was initially filed, a Cook County judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit claiming the City of Chicago overcharged residents for parking tickets across 10 years.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge William Sullivan ruled that, from 2012-2022, Chicago overcharged motorists by $163 million across nearly 2 million parking tickets and that refunds must be issued. The ruling also wipes out $93.8 million in fines and fees yet to be collected.
It is not currently clear when the city would start issuing refunds, but a Cook County judge must come up with a payment plan system after the appeals process plays out.
The City of Chicago Law Department said it is considering an appeal to Sullivan’s ruling, but Zolna said they are unlikely to see any changes even if the city appeals.
“Instead of the city saying, ‘Hey residents, we’re sorry we did this to you. We were wrong — a trial and appellate court said we’re wrong and we’re going to make things right,’ they say, ‘We’ll appeal it,’” said Jacie Zolna, an attorney with Zolna & Swetland LLC. “They’ve already appealed this case [before] and lost. They’re going to go to a court that already rejected all their arguments.”
According to Illinois State Law, there is a cap of $250 on fines and penalties the city can assess on parking tickets.
“The problem with the City of Chicago is it can’t help itself when it comes to ticketing revenue,” Zolna said. “About 16 years ago, it started to jack up all the ticket prices, where several exceeded that cap.”
Kyle Garchar, an Uber Driver from Bucktown, told WGN-TV he received $1600 in fees from four parking tickets, and ended up having his vehicle impounded for expired city sticker violations.
“I got 3-4 tickets in rapid succession,” said Kyle Garchar, an Uber Driver from Bucktown. “[I got] two of them within 2 weeks.”
