The city of Ames is making paying parking tickets less of an inconvenience for parking violators, but students will not see a similar arrangement on campus in the near future.

Assistant city attorney Judy Parks said residents must deposit a minimum of $50 into a credit account at City Hall to enroll in the new pre-pay ticket program.

After an agreement is signed and money is deposited, all tickets issued to a specific license plate number are automatically deducted from the account.

Participants are responsible for keeping track of their own accounts and re-enrolling each year.

Doug Houghton, program manager in the Department of Public Safety, said DPS has looked at pre-pay ticket plans but has never seriously considered implementing one on campus.

Residents hold different opinions about the new parking ticket arrangement.

“It’s a boon for people who get a lot of parking tickets,” said Jennifer Helzer of Ames.

Helzer said she frequently gets parking tickets and thinks the program could eliminate many of the inconveniences related to them.

Gabrielle Herr of Ames doubts the program will be very popular.

“I don’t think very many people will do it,” she said. “I don’t want to pay for something which I will hardly do. You don’t need this program if you pay the meters.”

Parks said 12 people have enrolled in the program since it informally began last fall. The city decided to provide this service after many parking violators asked if they could pay for their tickets in advance.

“It’s been working real well,” she said.

Most city parking tickets cost $3 or $5, but if violators don’t pay them on time, they will be fined more and may have to appear in court or eventually be arrested, Parks said.

She said the new plan gives participants the benefit of getting the lowest rate for their tickets, and it ensures the city that parking violations will be paid.

Some ISU students raised questions about the morality of this program.

“It’s a granted clemency to a group of people who violate the law,” said Masatoshi Tamai, freshman in aerospace engineering.

“I find it offensive because the officials are assuming a crime before it occurs.”

Kevin Conley, graduate student in economics, said people may be encouraged to park in the wrong places.

Houghton agreed with Conley.

“The pre-payment arrangement is not consistent with the goal of getting people to park legally in the first place,” Houghton said.

Research has indicated that pre-pay programs work well for some municipalities but not for college campuses, he said. The university and the city parking systems have different purposes.

City merchants need come-and-go parking so customers can briefly stop, do their shopping and leave so someone else can park and run errands, Houghton said.

But on a campus, there isn’t room for people to park briefly, he said.

He said since Iowa State’s average parking fine is between $12 and $15, a person who gets ticketed on campus often would quickly use up a $50 credit account.

Houghton also said the paperwork needed to begin such a program and enroll drivers could be so time-consuming that it would outweigh any time saved by a pre-pay program in ticket paperwork.

Students have differing views about the city’s new program and the implementation of a similar plan on campus.

“I don’t even buy books in advance before taking the class – why would I pay for a ticket before I get one?” said Yelena Bolotina, freshman in linguistics.

Angela Ballard, senior in management information systems, said she thinks a pre-pay program could save students time.

“It’s good for students who get a lot of parking tickets,” she said.