During the first Township Committee budget hearing of 2017 the TC heard from the municipal court about its budget and staffing and brought up the issue of enforcement and revenue.
Mayor Vic Deluca announced that more tickets had been issued in the last months of 2016, but said it is still below what South Orange produces.
"I think there's a reality that more tickets are written, not just parking tickets, in South Orange than in Maplewood," the mayor said. "Hopefully that will change with our emphasis on enforcement."
He later added, "We're still in about 1950 in the way in which we do parking tickets. We have people, our parking enforcement people ride around with pad and paper writing down times and license plates, in South Orange it is completely different."
He cited South Orange's use of electronic devices and electronic meters to enforce parking limits. Maplewood does not use parking meters.
"From a productivity level, our people having to write all this information down, takes a lot of time and they can't cover as much area," he said. "They (South Orange) also have the meters, it is much easier to write a ticket cause you see that meter, that flag comes up and you write the ticket ... and there's issues sometimes because we have people challenging parking tickets ... It is easier to prove the ticket with electronic proof."
Asked if he believes Maplewood should install parking meters, the mayor offered a firm "no." But he did say their modern devices and procedures could be instituted.
"Our moving traffic violations numbers are low," TC member Frank McGehee added. "I think they need to be higher and I think the residents want them to be higher. It's a revenue opportunity for our town."
But Municipal Prosecutor Annette DePalma warned the TC that seeking to use such tickets as a revenue stream could be problematic.
"I would caution the governing body against considering the municipal court a revenue generator," she said. "It's not and it's not supposed to be."
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