Pittsburgh City Council President Darlene Harris on Friday proposed increased fines for parking violations, introducing another wrinkle into proposals to use parking authority assets to bail out the pension fund.

Under her bill, fines for expired on-street meters Downtown and in Oakland would increase 87 percent, from $16 to $30, while fines for expired on-street meters in other neighborhoods would increase 81 percent, from $11 to $20.

Fines for expired meters in off-street lots Downtown and in Oakland would double to $30, and fines for expired meters in off-street lots in other neighborhoods would double to $20.

Fines for parking too close to an intersection or hydrant, or for illegal parking during street-cleaning hours, would increase 66 percent, from $15 to $25. Fines for damaging meters would increase 60 percent, from a maximum of $50 to a maximum of $80; repair costs would be extra.

Fines for illegal parking in a residential permit zone would increase 28 percent, from $35 to $45.

Mrs. Harris said parking fines haven't been increased in two decades, haven't kept pace with inflation and invite abuses.

"Currently, the cost of a parking ticket Downtown is lower than the cost of legally parking in a garage," she said in a statement.

At their current levels, parking fines will generate about $5.1 million this year, according to the city budget. Mrs. Harris said the money goes into the city's general fund.

She said new revenue from fine increases, as much as $5 million annually, should go to the city pension fund, which is only one-third funded and at risk of a state takeover at year's end.

Mrs. Harris' proposal comes amid vigorous debate over Mayor Luke Raventahl's plan to lease parking garages and possibly meters to a private party, with the goal of netting $200 million to sink into the pension fund.

Councilman Patrick Dowd and city Controller Michael Lamb have proposed transferring ownership of certain garages to the fund instead, and Mrs, Harris has proposed still another alternative -- floating a bond, backed by parking revenue, to shore up the fund.

Consultants working on the lease plan have called the Dowd-Lamb and Harris plans unworkable. However, Mrs. Harris said on Thursday that the consultants haven't taken into consideration all factors, such as what impact an increase in parking fines could have on feasibility of the bond proposal.

"I think that what she's trying to point out in this legislation is exactly right" -- that parking rates and fines are bound to increase under any plan to leverage parking assets for the pension fund, said Mr. Dowd, a co-sponsor.

By increasing fines now, he said, the pension fund can get a boost right away.

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