Beginning January 1, 2010, Lake Forest will beginning using the Denver Boot, which is already common in Chicago and several other Lake County villages. Although the outstanding parking tickets don’t compare to what the city of Chicago faces, Lake Forest could recoup as much as $21,000 if the top 16 parking ticket offenders paid up, according to Deputy Police Chief Glenn Burmeister. As villages struggle to make budgets work with a struggling economy, every dollar helps.
The boot clamps onto the wheel of a vehicle and immobilizes it. Lake Forest will require all outstanding parking tickets and fines to be paid, plus a $100 fee in order to remove the boot. Lake Forest is giving those with outstanding parking tickets a grace period of this month to pay their fines. Currently, a typical parking ticket in Lake Forest costs $15. Beginning in the New Year, those that haven’t paid, may be the first to experience the “Lake Forest” Boot.
Nearby Libertyville has been using the boot, but only sparingly and when they do, payment usually follows soon after.
So if you live, work, shop, visit, or commute in Lake Forest, make sure your parking tickets are paid!