Village giving out more tickets

Over the last few months, the Village of Island Park Code Enforcement officers have been issuing many more tickets than they did last year, cracking down on violations and brining in more revenue for the village.

From May to July of this year, village code enforcers issued 1,117 tickets, compared to 721 for the same period last year. In July alone, code enforcers issued 516 tickets.

“Our code enforcement have been out there a little bit more than they have in the past,” said Mayor James Ruzicka. “If they’re out there more, they’re going to see the violations and give tickets.”

According to Ruzicka, one of the reasons for the increase this summer was club parking. “They park in the parking lots without permits,” Ruzicka said, “so I would imagine that’s where a lot of the tickets are coming from.”

Most of the tickets the village issues are for parking violations. Parking without a permit and having an expired parking meter are among the most common violations, followed closely by inspired inspections and registrations. Most of those tickets cost violators around $40.

Parking isn’t the only thing the village polices, though. In May, the village issued 33 tickets for grass height violations, as well as tickets for having garbage out before 7 p.m. the night before collection.

While the village is getting more money from the increased tickets, Ruzicka could not say how much. He did say that whatever is earned goes into the village’s general fund.

And with the end of the summer, Ruzicka said there would most likely be an end to the spike in tickets.

“I think what we’re going to see, because the summer season is coming to a close, you’ll see a decrease in the amount of people out on the street,” he said. “It’s just that time of year when everything quiets down as the winter comes in to play, so I think you’ll see a decrease just because of that.”