COURT employees will erase parking citations in a town in exchange for a donation to the local school system.
In exchange for $10 worth of school supplies, any $18 parking ticket received for overtime will be forgiven this summer.
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Tuscaloosa, Alabama, announced that for the third year in a row, the Tuscaloosa Municipal Court will forgive parking tickets if violators bring to court at least $10 worth of school supplies such as crayons, pencils and backpacks.
“It’s very beneficial to the city’s school system,” District 2 city council member Raevan Howard told Cozi TV affiliate. WVUA 23.
“This is an opportunity for us to collect school supplies from people who have parking tickets, so it’s also beneficial for people who have parking tickets.”
“This allows them to give back to the community in an extraordinary way.”
READ MORE ABOUT PARKING TICKETS
Multiple donations of $10 or more can be made to offset multiple parking tickets.
When the program launched in 2022, Mike Daria, superintendent of Tuscaloosa schools, praised the program.
“School supplies are so important for our students and our teachers’ classrooms, and anything people can contribute will be very helpful,” Daria said.
This year the program will start earlier than in previous years, starting on July 15th and running until August 9th.
“It was an idea to do this earlier this year so that school supplies would be delivered to the school during the first few weeks of school,” Tuscaloosa City Court Administrator Jessica Steward told the Fox affiliate. WBRC.
“On average, over the last two years, we have issued between 110 and 160 parking tickets and each one costs $18.”
All donations received will be donated to the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education and distributed to students in need as per City of Tuscaloosa website.
This isn’t the only time of year the city accepts donations as payment for unpaid parking tickets.
Last November, the city held a toy donation drive that allowed parking violators the opportunity to donate toys to forgive their fine.
The toy drive, managed by Toys for Tots, took place in a similar way to the school supplies drive.
Donated toys worth $10 would forgive one $18 parking ticket, and toys valued at $20 or more would forgive two $18 tickets.
Tuscaloosa City Council President Kip Tyner told WVUA 23 the trip was a great way to kick off the holiday season while easing the burden of parking tickets.
“Any offense is not big, but it is something minor,” Tyner said.
“We just encourage people, instead of paying for their tickets, to donate toys.”
“Tickets often cost more than the cost of a toy and at the same time would benefit children who might not otherwise have a Christmas.”
The toy drive began in 2019 and inspired school supplies drives.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
