It’s raining fines in Brimbank.
Council figures reveal that in the 2013-14 financial year, more than 16,700 fines were issued – including everything from parking offences, tobacco sales, food safety, littering, animals at large and vacant land that’s a fire risk.
A further 11,300 fines have been handed out already this financial year.
Brimbank’s five libraries have also stung bookworms for late returns, damaged resources and replacement library cards, but city development director Stuart Menzies said it was difficult to maintain records of the numbers of fines and outstanding amounts because fines were constantly being paid.
“Customers are sent a reminder notification via email, SMS or mail, three days before their items are due as a prompt to return their resources on time and avoid incurring a fine,” Mr Menzies said. “Brimbank libraries have previously run campaigns, such as an amnesty on library fines program and a food for fines program.”
Mr Menzies said people who failed to pay their fines on time could end up forking out more.
Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Office is chasing more than $1.7 million in unpaid fines from Brimbank residents. State government legislation means regulators can now streamline fine collection to clamp down on serial offenders.
Charlene Macaulay
