Are we being scammed by the city over parking?
I received this anonymously from a "John Smith."
Good Afternoon Tom,
The corruption in the City of Miami profits from parking whether people pay or not and some of these money grab tactics are illegal.
The city of Miami has woven themselves into the private parking industry and parking enforcement industry via booting and towing for over a decade. The city has their hands into all 3 of these industries to ensure that they profit from citizens parking in the city on private property no matter what happens to them. Through the private parking operators, the City profits 15% of the gross revenue from every private parking facility located within the city. This has significantly increased rates on citizens and tourist parking a vehicle within the City. The purpose of the Miami Parking surcharge tax is to lower the ad valorem real estate tax which obviously it has not done. Instead it is simply a money grab by the City and just raised the parking rates on our citizens and visitors.
If a citizen fails to pay for parking the city makes a greater profit off the enforcement of private parking. The City makes about 15-20 times more off a violation than if the patron was to actually pay to park and this fee is more than a parking ticket in the city of Miami. If a violator of a private facility is booted, the city says it is entitled to $25 of the $89 boot contractors fee. The city of Miami is currently trying to change this to limit the amount of booting in the city under the guise that this is better for the residents and guest of our city. Unfortunately, these changes will virtually eliminate this industry and force private operators to use towing to remove the violators. If a vehicle is towed from private property, the City receives a $30 administration fee on top of the $101 initial towing rate. In addition to being more expensive to the violator, you will have to take a cab/uber to a not so nice area of town to retrieve your car. Obviously the city has more to gain financially if a car does not pay and is towed than any other means of enforcement.
In addition to the corruption outlined above, the city has created for themselves a huge legal liability as they had a $25 "boot administration fee" being paid to them for over a decade. Administration fees to a city can only cover the cost of administration of that particular program or industry. In recent public commission meetings over the last several months, the city has stated that they don't know what the cost of administering this industry is and they had no administrative costs previously. They are currently trying to put together a program and decide on the cost to administer this program/industry. In many case law studies throughout the United States, when an administrative fee is not used for its intended purposes, it has been deemed by the courts and illegal tax. We know the city has had no costs associated with this fee because they admittedly had no administration. They have said that the revenue from the fee has gone to the City of Miami general fund which automatically deems it an illegal tax.
The booting industry is asking for an immediate refund of their illegally taxed revenue from the city or they are going to file suite.
If you have any other questions regarding this we will be happy to be an anonymous source through this email.
I would highly recommend reaching out to the booting companies regarding this.
AR Booting - 305-333-1812
Advanced Booting Services - 770-650-0659
Elite Booting - 888-578-2668
Good Afternoon Tom,
The corruption in the City of Miami profits from parking whether people pay or not and some of these money grab tactics are illegal.
The city of Miami has woven themselves into the private parking industry and parking enforcement industry via booting and towing for over a decade. The city has their hands into all 3 of these industries to ensure that they profit from citizens parking in the city on private property no matter what happens to them. Through the private parking operators, the City profits 15% of the gross revenue from every private parking facility located within the city. This has significantly increased rates on citizens and tourist parking a vehicle within the City. The purpose of the Miami Parking surcharge tax is to lower the ad valorem real estate tax which obviously it has not done. Instead it is simply a money grab by the City and just raised the parking rates on our citizens and visitors.
If a citizen fails to pay for parking the city makes a greater profit off the enforcement of private parking. The City makes about 15-20 times more off a violation than if the patron was to actually pay to park and this fee is more than a parking ticket in the city of Miami. If a violator of a private facility is booted, the city says it is entitled to $25 of the $89 boot contractors fee. The city of Miami is currently trying to change this to limit the amount of booting in the city under the guise that this is better for the residents and guest of our city. Unfortunately, these changes will virtually eliminate this industry and force private operators to use towing to remove the violators. If a vehicle is towed from private property, the City receives a $30 administration fee on top of the $101 initial towing rate. In addition to being more expensive to the violator, you will have to take a cab/uber to a not so nice area of town to retrieve your car. Obviously the city has more to gain financially if a car does not pay and is towed than any other means of enforcement.
In addition to the corruption outlined above, the city has created for themselves a huge legal liability as they had a $25 "boot administration fee" being paid to them for over a decade. Administration fees to a city can only cover the cost of administration of that particular program or industry. In recent public commission meetings over the last several months, the city has stated that they don't know what the cost of administering this industry is and they had no administrative costs previously. They are currently trying to put together a program and decide on the cost to administer this program/industry. In many case law studies throughout the United States, when an administrative fee is not used for its intended purposes, it has been deemed by the courts and illegal tax. We know the city has had no costs associated with this fee because they admittedly had no administration. They have said that the revenue from the fee has gone to the City of Miami general fund which automatically deems it an illegal tax.
The booting industry is asking for an immediate refund of their illegally taxed revenue from the city or they are going to file suite.
If you have any other questions regarding this we will be happy to be an anonymous source through this email.
I would highly recommend reaching out to the booting companies regarding this.
AR Booting - 305-333-1812
Advanced Booting Services - 770-650-0659
Elite Booting - 888-578-2668
posted by Tom Falco at 4:00 AM
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4 Comments:
Is there anyone in Miami who is not a thief?? Hello?????
Well John smith???? Who are you and your e-mail makes no sense. Why would any of us reach out to the booting companies. Stupid idea. Do you work for one of them. City is not making boat loads of money here.???????
The City of Miami collects over $25,000,000 dollars per year via the 15% Parking Surcharge Tax and 2018 year to date has collected over $350,000 dollars in Booting Administration Fee's according to City records. That doesn't sound like a boat load of money! It sounds like multiple Mega Yachts!!!
I'm tired of filing lawsuits/complaints against the City of Miami because there's better things to do with my time. For example: My wife received a red light violation on Key Biscayne for "failure to turn right on red using discretion"? I took a measuring tape and stop watch to the red light. I measured and calculated, there were no trees blocking her view, no traffic in the vicinity of her turn, got a chart on how fast her vehicle could stop per second, what a pain in the ass. I wrote the Village of Key Biscayne advising their village to Google my name if they thought I wasn't serious and told them and the red light company somewhere in the Midwest (I forgot where) that I was filing a class action lawsuit because my wife was not speeding and made the turn safely, AND I was going to file a sunshine demand for everyone who received a similar citation and a $158.00 fine to return their fines. I stood in line to enter the impromptu hearing room where the only persons hearing the case represented the red light camera company. A Village police officer was taking the names of about 30 people waiting in line to be heard. The officer looked like Arnold Swazenneggar and about 6'4", with gun, badge, pepper spray, baton and a sincere friendly smile from ear to ear. I gave my. I don't know how it's possible, but the smile expanded as he said "Your case has been dismissed". I turned and walked away - - - - stress and what a waste of time. I'm going fishing. Jobie Steppe
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