Council raises select parking forfeitures, updates municipal court bond schedule

The Waukesha Common Council unanimously approved amendments to Municipal Code Chapter 7 on Nov. 4 to adjust parking regulations and forfeiture amounts and also adopted an updated municipal court bond schedule.

Ordinance and licensing representatives said the amendment increases certain parking forfeitures by $5 and does not change the underlying marking or designation requirements for fire lanes; it instead creates penalties where enforcement already applied. "No change to the marking or the designation. It just creates the penalty," a committee representative said during third-reading remarks.

The municipal court bond schedule amendment aligns citation amounts with the Chapter 7 changes. Officials said most violations handled by the city's third-party parking vendor are now a standard $25 forfeiture that increases to $44 if not paid within 15 days; council members asked staff to check whether the 15-day period is statutorily required or a local administrative practice.

The judge approved the bond-schedule changes before the council vote, and council members voted to adopt the updated schedule.

Sources: Third-reading remarks and the municipal court bond-schedule presentation made to the council during the Nov. 4 meeting.