No parking between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. No parking anytime. Resident parking only.

Signs with phrases such as these show that parking in State College can be difficult, but plans are under way to increase the number of parking spaces in the borough.

Nearly $827,000 was budgeted into the 2002 general fund budget from parking fines, said Mike Groff, finance director for the State College Borough. The amount breaks down to $310,000 from parking meter violations and $517,000 for other parking violations.

Groff said the revenue is generated from a variety of violations, but unusual parking violations such as boot fees and impound fees are on a different line in the budget.

Parking ticket revenue goes into the general fund, which pays for things besides improving parking and transportation in State College, Groff said.

Money from parking garages is used to improve parking in the borough, said Thomas Daubert, a State College Borough Council member.

There are plans to build a new 600-car parking deck at 116 Hiester St., where Cinema 5 is located, Daubert said.

"We hope that it will come about," Daubert said. "It should greatly improve parking downtown."

Also, there is talk of building a smaller parking deck in the west end of downtown.

"This will make it easier for people parking downtown," Daubert said. "If you park in a garage, you are less likely to get a ticket."

The most common parking violation is generated from parking in the zones posted no parking from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., Groff said.

The overnight rule allows for street cleaning and snow removal in the winter, he said.

Ignoring parking tickets can lead to bigger problems, more fees, boots, impoundment of the vehicles, and sometimes, court appearances.

TICKETS AND FINES

A parking ticket for meter expiration is $5, said Karen Martin, parking director for State College borough. Additional tickets can be issued every 61 minutes. The ticket can be halved to $2.50 if it is paid within 30 minutes.

If unpaid, this ticket can end up costing the registered owner of the car $20 after 30 days.

Reminder notices are sent to the address on the registration 30 days after the ticket is issued.

If a person acquires five or more unpaid tickets, a boot can be placed on the vehicle.

A boot fee is then added to the cost of the unpaid tickets.

All costs and fines must be paid in full before the boot will be removed, Martin said. The borough does not set up payment plans.

"We tried payment plans once, and we ended up getting nailed," Martin said.

"A couple of people set up the payment plans with us, and then they still didn't pay their fines -- so we quit doing it."

If payment is not received within 72 hours after the boot is placed on the car, the borough impounds the vehicle. This adds additional costs and fees for storage and towing, Martin said.

If tickets are not paid within 30 days and reminder notices are ignored, the borough turns in a case to the district magistrate.

COURT

District Justice Carmine W. Prestia Jr. presides over the busiest court in all of Centre County.

"This is where things can get ugly," Prestia said. "I've seen people with over $4,000 in parking tickets. I wouldn't call this regular, but it's certainly not unusual."

Of the 10,838 traffic violations that Prestia saw in the first nine months of this year, he estimates that between 5,000 and 7,000 were parking tickets.

A summons to appear in court is issued if the borough exhausts all attempts to collect the fine. The vehicle owner has 10 days to reply to the summons.

There are three options: Plead guilty and pay the fines, plead guilty and meet with Prestia to set up a payment plan for the fines, or plead not guilty and meet with Prestia.

At this point, the cost of a $5 meter violation can cost more than $50.

If the summons to appear in court is ignored, a warrant is issued. Another $22.50 is added to the costs for a constable fee.

"The constable will try to work with the person to pay the fees," Prestia said. "If [the constable] meets with the person, and they honestly want to plead and pay the fees, then they generally won't arrest them."

The majority of the people Prestia sees in court for ticket violations are college age, he said.

"Many times I meet with students who say that they never received notices to appear in court because it was sent to their home address or an [old apartment] address," Prestia said.

After changing addresses with the post office, it is necessary to change the address on the registration for a vehicle with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Prestia said.

"It's not a big deal to get a ticket -- everyone gets them," Prestia said. "There is no nice way to put it: It's just stupid to ignore them."