Senator Larkin and Assemblyman Skartados Pass Legislation to Create a Newburgh Parking Ticket Tribunal

In an effort to cut down on the time the Newburgh City Court has to spend addressing parking tickets, Senator William Larkin (R-C Cornwall-on-Hudson) and Assemblyman Frank Skartados (D-Milton) announced the passage of legislation that will allow Newburgh to establish an administrative tribunal to handle all parking tickets.

"This is a great day for the City of Newburgh," Senator Larkin said.  "It has taken over a decade, but after all these years I am very happy the legislation has finally passed both houses of the Legislature. I look forward to the Governor signing the bill into law and allowing the City to finally begin recouping the money they so desperately need."

“The city court has more important things to do than listen to people arguing about parking tickets all day,” Assemblyman Skartados said. “This tribunal will cut down on the case backlogs the city court is currently facing and allow court personnel to focus on important issues.”

This tribunal should also help Newburgh’s bottom line. Many of these parking tickets go unpaid because the city court doesn’t have the time to hear arguments on every parking ticket that is scheduled for court. The tribunal would help the city collect over $3 million from the over 60,000 outstanding tickets in Newburgh.

“We are very pleased with the passage of this bill which will help us address a long-standing issue with unpaid parking tickets,” Mayor Judy Kennedy said. “We are grateful to Senator Bill Larkin and Assemblyman Frank Skartados for their support, as well as for the help of the Greater Newburgh Partnership. This is a great example of a successful public private partnership.”

“In addition to Senator Larkin, Assemblyman Skartados and the Greater Newburgh Partnership, I would like to thank the current and past City Council members and the late Assemblyman Tom Kirwan for their steadfast support of this important legislation,” City Manager Richard F. Herbek said. “This presents a further opportunity for the City to enhance our revenues. My staff has already begun to prepare plans for the development and administration of the Administrative Tribunal.”