But have you ever wondered what the City of Salem does with your money after you prepay your fine?
Given the current Salem Municipal Court backlog, it can take several months to even get a court date. If the court finds you not guilty, it takes several more weeks to refund the fine you already had to pay. In the past nine months I have received three citations -- all for exceeding the two-hour parking limit. Each time, I had left the downtown area, and returned later to park on the same block. In two of my court appearances, Judge Aiken accepted my explanation and dismissed my citation -- just as she did for other drivers who presented the same defense while I was in court. The court dismissed my third citation after the enforcement officer moved for dismissal.

In each case, my refund took several weeks to get to me after the court date.

This raises several questions: Does the City of Salem earn interest on my $15 fines from when I first pay until they finally return my $15 to me? If so, why is this interest not also returned? If drivers must pay their fines within 14 days of being cited, why does the City not refund these amounts within 14 days of the driver being found innocent?

I asked my city councilor these questions in an e-mail. I was told he would investigate the matter and get back to me. After several follow-up e-mails I have only received interim responses from him.

Apparently he is having difficulty getting answers from the appropriate city managers -- giving me the impression that they don't want the public to know the answers.

When the City first implemented the two-hour parking limit throughout downtown, I e-mailed the Parking Enforcement Manager and asked what precautions their parking officers were taking to ensure they don't write further citations against drivers who may actually have left downtown and then returned during the two-hour timeframe. I never received an answer, but evidently they have done nothing.

The parking enforcement officers continue to write citations in this situation, citations that the court later dismisses if the driver challenges them. Meanwhile, the City gets to hold -- and apparently make money on -- these fines.

Having yet to receive an answer to these questions leads me to suspect that this is a dirty little secret that the City wants to keep secret.

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