Trading school supplies for parking fines: City Council discusses new ordinance

If someone gets a parking ticket in Columbia between August 7-21, they can bring in school supplies in lieu of a fine

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — The Columbia City Council is discussing a new way for people to pay off their parking tickets.

With a new school year just five weeks away, city officials are chalking up a new idea to help people pay off their parking tickets while making a difference in the classroom.

“We are accepting school supplies, such as notepads, pens, paper, things like that. Giving back and those donations in replacement of money that kind of gives all of us a sense that we’re giving back,” said Jessica Argoe, a Business Liaison for the City of Columbia Parking Services. 

Pending City Council approval, people who receive a parking ticket in a two-week window in August have the chance to pay their fine in terms of fresh pencils and paper, not just dollars and cents.

When people donate at Parking Services locations, they need to bring their ticket as well as a receipt to show they paid equal or greater value to the citation.

“We are accepting donations starting August 7 through August 21 in replacement of your citation on those dates as well. The effective date that we will stop taking donations will be September 21,” Argoe said.

Lawmakers in Las Vegas passed a similar ordinance a couple of weeks ago, and some say this will be helpful for students across the City of Columbia.

“It’s a great thing for education, it’s also a great thing for residents to contribute into education and to be a part of the public, period. I think it’s a great thing for the residents to get involved and do everything they can to help the schools and the children,” said Moe Baddourah of the Columbia City Council.

Parking Services officials say they hope to receive as much as $25,000 in school supplies over that two-week window.

They say this program will help students across the city thrive to start the school year.

“We all were a student that received some type of help or know someone that deserves some help as far as the city is concerned. The city is glad to encourage those who don’t have citations to donate as well,” Argoe said.

The city will only accept school supplies in exchange for payment of parking tickets collected between August 7 and August 21.

They will not accept collections if someone has been cited for a moving violation, or for a citation prior to August 7.

The City Council had its first reading of the ordinance Tuesday.