When Chicago's City Council decided to lower the threshold for slapping a metal boot on cars, you had to know there would be an influx of cash going into city coffers. After all, that was half the point.
An investigation by the Sun-Times shows the program has been a huge success, as far as city accountants are concerned. Since April 22, the city has mailed a whopping 183,293 seizure notices and booted nearly 3,500 cars.
Good news for the city; bad news for you.
Now, to get the boot, all you need are two unpaid tickets older than a year to get the boot. The city has even put $1.5 million behind new technology to bolster their booting abilities. They now have 26 vans equipped with electronically controlled cameras that can check 900 license plates per hour, searching for bootable cars.
If your car is booted, you'll have to pay all unpaid parking violations and fines to get it removed. And if your car also gets towed, you'll also have to pay those pesky towing and storage fees.
A Revenue Department spokesman said they're out to "maximize collections" for the city.
No kidding.
