And that'll solve everything! Okay, no it won't. But seriously, the city of Detroit has another big problem to deal with, and that's collecting on overdue parking tickets totaling $82 million.
Collecting on past debts is nothing new for city administrators, but considering that the city is bankrupt, there are new measures in place to enforce collection — noticeably, reporting debts to collection agencies and credit-reporting systems, things no one wants.
I'm guilty as charged; I think I have an overdue ticket that ballooned from $10 to $60-something, I think. I know, I know. But I'm not as deep in the hole as some others.
WDIV reports that an investment firm in Detroit owes $15,355 in tickets, followed by a transportation company that owes $14,210. The biggest single debtor is a resident who owes more than $13,500 and lives downtown, which tells me that even if you live downtown you can't rely on public transportation.
There's one catch in collecting on past debts: If your ticket is 10 years old, it'll be dismissed. And the city also has several amnesty programs throughout the year where debtors can pay less than what they owe. The chances of Detroit collecting the full $82 million are nonexistent.