Dave Levinthal and Molly Motley Blythe of The Dallas Morning News analyzed city records to show that Dallas City Hall, perennially strapped for cash, is owed at least $40 million in unpaid parking fines. As of November, the city had yet to collect on nearly 1 million outstanding parking tickets and their corresponding late penalties dating to 1988. "The money is owed by delivery companies and the federal government; city employees and average residents; and folks from every corner of the state and nation. " The investigation found the information recorded about illegally parked vehicles is inconsistent — several different names for the same company, for example — and sometimes incorrect. Also, 10 businesses each owed Dallas more than $30,000. Two of them owed more than $100,000. Dallas has cut dozens of jobs and raised property taxes because of meager budgets.
