The city of Chicago issues more than 3 million tickets each year for a wide range of parking, vehicle compliance and automated traffic camera violations, according to a ProPublica Chicago report.

Those tickets are especially burdensome on low-income residents. A Chicago pastor said the fines can have a devastating impact.

The average ticket penalties range from $25 citations for broken headlights to $250 tickets for parking in a disabled zone. Chicago drivers who are burdened with debt often turn to Chapter 13 bankruptcy as a temporary reprieve. Tickets for parking, traffic and vehicle compliance prompt so many bankruptcies that the Chicago courts lead the nation in Chapter 13 filings, particularly in the Northern District of Illinois, which includes Chicago and its suburbs, an analysis found.

Pastor Darryl W. Russell of the Change You Can Believe In Missionary Baptist Church said the high price of these municipal penalties is difficult for some people to pay.

“I have a problem with the ticket issue,” Russell told Southland Marquee. “I have had members in the church and my family have a rough time with parking tickets and speed and red light cameras. I think it’s a way the city gets revenue off the back of low-income neighborhoods, particularly Black neighborhoods.”

Previous reporting has highlighted the impact of the city’s aggressive ticketing regime, most notably in the form of hundreds of city cameras across the city, which generate tens of millions of dollars a year for City Hall.

Block Club Chicago says the cameras have come at a steep cost for motorists, particularly from the city’s Black and Latino neighborhoods. It is noted that a ProPublica analysis of millions of citations found that between 2015-19, households in majority Black and Hispanic ZIP codes received tickets at around twice the rate of those in white areas.

Russell, 58, said changes are needed to lift this burden.

“I think some laws need to be changed to help out people with this problem that they have,” he said. “It’s also my understanding that it stops people from getting city jobs and other benefits from the city. Something needs to be done about this.”

He has been a pastor for 12 years. Because of COVID-19, his church is holding its services via Zoom.

According to a Chicago Sun Times report, ticketing in the city of Chicago was up 25.7% during the first six months of 2022, from 853,906 tickets through June 30 of last year to 1,073,919 tickets during the same period this year.

Cook County has a city code in place that gives the city the right to revoke a business license if a person does not pay or is unable to pay issued tickets.

Section 54-391 of the Cook County Code of Ordinances states: “The license of any person who has failed to pay any fine, assessment of costs or other sum of money owed to the county pursuant to an order of the Department of Revenue, an order of the Department of Administrative Hearings or a court order, by the due date indicated in the order, or within 30 calendar days of becoming a debt due and owing may be suspended by the Department of Revenue, in accordance with its rules and after affording a hearing. The license shall be suspended until such time that the fine, assessment of costs or other sum of money has been fully paid.”

The city of Chicago is the only major U.S. city with a program that deactivates gig-workers, primarily ride-share drivers, for their unpaid ticket debts, according to NPR.

Russell said members of his congregation have offered assistance in some cases.

“Sometimes I ask the members for a special offering for those who have financial difficulties,” he said. “The Change Church gives out information about job openings and lets people know about programs that can help low-income people. The city can come up with more programs for low-income people in the city, programs that can help them with some of their financial challenges.”

The pastor also believes the city could do more for low-income residents.

“In reference to the city, they can come up with more ways to help the residents of Chicago financially,” he said. “They try to say they don’t have funds but they find money to pay for the lawsuit for police mistreatment of the citizens of Chicago.”

This is occurring at a time of financial uncertainty for many Chicago-area residents.

According to the latest release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.4% in October on a seasonally adjusted basis. Over the last 12 months, the all-items index increased by 7.7% prior to seasonal adjustment.

The largest contributors were increases in the indexes for shelter, food, and gasoline. Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area, as measured by the CPI-U, rose 0.3% during the month of September and 4.5% during the previous 12 months. The food index rose 1.3%, with grocery prices jumping 2.1% in one month and 5.5% over the year. 

Special note from the Southland Marquee: This story is part of a collection highlighting how Cook County and City of Chicago policy affect freelancers, small business owners, and ride-share drivers.