THE Sheriff’s Office is chasing more than $53 million in unpaid fines across Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay.
Figures released by the Sheriff’s Office last week reveal almost 34,000 residents across the inner west have 153,036 unpaid fines, amounting to $27.7 million in Maribyrnong and $25.4 million in Hobsons Bay.
The 2012-13 financial year figures show a crackdown has failed to
stem the rise in unpaid fines of more than $1.3 billion across the
state. Offences involving tolls, speeding and parking are among the most
prevalent for which fines are due.
Sheriff of Victoria Brendan Facey said too many people were letting their fines get out of control.
“Getting help with your fines is easy, ignoring them will lead to action from the Sheriff’s Office,” he said.
The Sheriff’s Office arrested more than 2000 people and took action over more than 1.1 million warrants last year – up more than 27 per cent from the previous year.
Mr Facey said most people were paying their fines on time, but a small minority were deliberately trying to cheat the system.
“Clearly some people are not getting the message until a sheriff’s
officer clamps their car, suspends their driver’s licence or arrests
them,” he said.
Across the state, 728,549 people racked up 3,760,798 unpaid fines
worth $1,316,218,549. Residents of the City of Casey owed the most money
among Melbourne suburbs, with more than $84 million in unpaid fines.
In a blitz at Highpoint Shopping Centre in Maribyrnong in
December, the sheriff used automatic number plate recognition (ANPR)
technology to catch 107 fine evaders with a total of 1244 outstanding
warrants. One of those caught had 199 outstanding warrants worth almost
$60,000.
Mr Facey said the Sheriff’s Office had a range of strategies to help recover money.
Outstanding fines can be paid at fines.vic.gov.au
