So I recently got a parking ticket at one of those meters down at the end of the block where you have to put your receipt on the windshield. I was issued a ticket while I was on line at the meter. I called to the ticket writer but he didn’t hear me. My receipt is time stamped one minute after the ticket was issued.
So I go to court on my assigned date and show the prosecutor my receipt. Fine, we’ll dismiss the ticket. Go see the judge.
Judge accepts the dismissal as long as I’m willing to pay the $30 administrative fee that is assessed on all tickets except those adjudicated not guilty. I did nothing wrong, so at the prosecutor’s recommendation, I asked the judge to waive the fee. He refuses, and lectures me about how this fee goes to pay the salary of the ticket writer, the prosecutor, etc (and of course the judge). Which I understand, but having done nothing wrong - a fact the prosecution impliedly admits by their offer, I refused to accept the dismissal. So now I’m awaiting my trial date. And now they have to pay all the expenses associated therewith.
Oh, and while there, I think I almost got ANOTHER parking ticket, when I parked in what must have been an employee-only section (despite there being no signs to indicate such, though the lines were painted yellow instead of white as I recall) when the parking meter refused to accept my parking space number.
There’s legit reasons for ticket writing, but this is just a scam.
True, without tickets, many "Public Servants" and their spawn would starve to death.