Audit: Mt. Kisco Had $1.17M in Unpaid Tickets

Mount Kisco had roughly $1.17 million worth of unpaid parking tickets that were outstanding as of last spring, according to an audit released by the New York State Comptroller's office.

The report, which was released on May 3, involved studying Mount Kisco's receivables for parking offenses from June 1, 2011 to May 31, 2012, which was the 2011-12 fiscal year.

The audit found that Mount Kisco had about 19,979 outstanding tickets as of the end of the fiscal year. They included 12,792 (worth about $720,703) that were uncollected for more than five years, and 7,187 (worth about $450,260) that are outstanding from within the past five years. 

Mount Kisco's overall collection rate, from 2008-12, stood at more than 90 percent, and the village collected about $721,000 worth of ticket revenue in 2011-12. Over the same time period, about 29,870 tickets were issued.

The audit recommends that Mount Kisco adopts policies for identifying and removing (purging) the uncollected tickets.

Village Manager James Palmer, who gave a briefing on the report at Monday's Village Board of Trustees meeting, said that the plan, over the next few months, will be to have a policy in place that is similar to what other communities in Westchester County have. He noted that Mount Kisco has a “very aggressive collection system," which involves using a collecton agency, and that the village has historically had one of the highest rates in the county for getting ticket revenue.

The unpaid tickets go as far back as the 1980s, Palmer said.

Palmer also noted that the need for having a removal plan was also identified by the village's own outside auditors. 

Mayor Michael Cindrich, who supports implementing a plan, noted that one problem with ticket collection can involve legibility for hand-written tickets, which can hamper the work if license plate information is not identifiable. 

A plan would be approved by the village board and would involve asking the justice court to dismiss the outstanding tickets.

To read the comptroller's report, click here.