Running a red in the District may soon cost you more green. So could parking at a meter. Or scheduling a meeting at the Sumner School in Northwest Washington.
That’s because Mayor Adrian Fenty is proposing some major fees and penalties as he tries to close a $523 million budget gap, according to the Washington Post.
The fees include charging parents for hearing transcripts, if they’re trying to enroll their kids in special education programs.
A spokeswoman for the mayor said the proposed budget would make the government more efficient.
Groups like AAA Mid-Atlantic, though, are upset with Fenty’s plan because it calls for steeper fines for a number of traffic violations, like speeding or running red lights.
“What the city has done is removed the veneer that this is about traffic or safety. It’s about revenue,” AAA Mid-Atlantic’s John Townsend told The Washington Post. “I genuinely worry that residents, motorists can become ATM machines.”
Some economists say the new fees and fines are better than the alternative: higher taxes.
