Neptune Beach to send unpaid parking tickets to collections

NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. — Drivers with unpaid parking tickets in Neptune Beach could be hearing from a debt collector soon.

The city announced it would start going after unpaid tickets by sending them to a collections agency.

“I think that sending people to collections for unpaid tickets is a little ridiculous,” Jordyn Cotroneo said while visiting Beaches Town Center Sunday.

Cotroneo isn’t the biggest fan of paid parking in the town center, which went into effect about six years ago, so she wasn’t surprised to learn the City of Neptune Beach has an issue with people not paying their parking tickets.

“I just think people aren’t paying tickets because nobody agrees this should be paid,” Cotroneo said.

When looking into a new paid parking system, Neptune Beach Police Chief Michael Key told city leaders the city only made about $5,000 in 2024 on parking violation tickets.

Meanwhile, between 2022 and 2024, the city had nearly half a million dollars in outstanding unpaid tickets.

“Maybe more people would pay their tickets if you didn’t charge so much to park,” Cotroneo said.

“I think if you’re not paying, you should be penalized,” Frank Valli said while paying at a kiosk.

The chief conveyed the old parking system didn’t provide much of a way to go after tickets, but the new one does — by bringing in a collections agency to make sure tickets are paid.

Starting April 15, tickets from before 2026 will be sent to collections.

“If you don’t pay the ticket, it’s kind of on you,” Cameron Bruce said while cycling through Beaches Town Center. “You should probably be expecting somebody to be coming for the money.”

“I’m worried for other people,” Nick Lesesne said after opting to valet. “It’s such an easy thing to forget and destroy your credit.”

Paid parking is set at $2.50 per hour from 11 a.m. to midnight, and tickets are $60.

Neptune Beach directed folks to check on the city’s website to see if they have any outstanding tickets.

“Good for them for doing it,” Bruce said. “I would say the overall asking for people to pay here is my overall plight.”