2
SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2005
Court rules against UNC
Schools to pay
backdated funds
BY JOSEPH R. SCHWARTZ
STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
In an outcome with multimillion
dollar implications spanning across
the state, the N.C. Supreme Court
ruled July 1 that the UNC-system
is among several state groups that
owe public schools a backlog of
civil penalty collections.
Mired in what officials have
deemed a critical budget year,
UNC-Chapel Hill could be forced
to shell out 10 years’ worth of park
ing fines that total more than $lO
million.
Monies collected from speed
ing tickets and other criminal
offenses traditionally have gone
to public schools, but July's ruling
extends to several more violations
once deemed remedial in nature.
Among sums that now will be
fimneled to public schools are fines
collected by the N.C. Department
of Transportation for overweight
vehicles, parking tines collected on
UNC-system school campuses and
late tax fines.
But just how much money UNC
and other agencies will be forced to
forfeit is still open to debate.
The N.C. School Boards
Association first filed the lawsuit
seeking the funds in 1998, and the
ruling can be applied retroactively
to 1995.
Michael Crowell, the attorney
representing the schools, estimat
ed that if all money were collected
public schools would garner an
additional SSOO million.
Still, officials on both sides of the
issue say they are unsure if all of
the money can be recovered.
“We simply have to be practical
and recognize that there’s a large
amount of money at issue here,”
Crowell said.
“The agencies are not likely
to have it sitting around ready to
hand out.”
Although each of the UNC sys
tem’s 16 campuses have set aside
parking fines since 2001, Leslie
Winner, the system’s vice president
for legal affairs, said they’ll fight to
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DTH FILE/ISAAC SANDLIN
Officer J. Nutter issues a parking citation outside of Davis Library in July. The July 1 court ruling ordered
that revenue gathered from tickets is to go to North Carolina public schools.
avoid retroactive payment.
“We will encourage the attorney
general to argue that we shouldn’t
have to pay this retroactively,” she
said.
It’s not like the University has a
big pot of money to pay the funds
going backwards.”
Crowell said the UNC system
collects more than $3 million
yearly from parking violations.
UNC-CH officials have esti
mated in the past that the
Department of Public Safety
receives $1.2 million per year in
parking fines.
Randy Young, spokesman for
the UNC-CH Department of
Public Safety, declined to com
ment.
Parties now will be sent back to
trial court where they must ham
mer out exact totals for payment.
“It’s going to take awhile to fig
ure out how much money is owed
and how much can be collected,”
Crowell said.
And state legislators say they’ll
be waiting with interested ears.
Senate Majority Leader Tony
Welcome Back
Rand, D-Cumberland, said staff
officials tabulated the poten
tial economic impact on public
schools.
“It’s being factored into it now,”
he said in July. “We’ve got our staff
looking into it to see what the
implications will be.”
The ruling marks a shift from
the N.C. Court of Appeals 2003
opinion that stated that the agen
cies could retain the fines because
most are remedial.
The Supreme Court ruled unan
imously in the case and wrote no
dissenting opinion.
Crowell said through seven
years of ups and downs, he main
tained that the facts justify the
final outcome.
“We thought we had a good legal
case all along,” he said.
“We thought that if the court
looked at the legal issues and didn’t
get caught up in politics that we’d
have a good chance.”
The ruling does hold that
library fines are immune, saving
UNC-CH an estimated $200,000
a year.
The University isn’t the only
local entity that will be impacted.
Although the Orange County
School Board was not among the
handful of county schools boards
listed as plaintiffs, UNC-CH’s
money could be transferred just
down the road.
Mike Parker, Orange County
Schools attorney, said he expects
the total sum to be distributed
throughout the state’s 100 coun
ties on a per capita basis.
“It will obviously bring some
more money for the school system
here,” he said.
Parker said the board is not
depending on the ruling for fund
ing.
It could, however, help reduce a
budget shortfall.
The county recently passed a
$173 per student hike, $227 less
than the board requested.
Examining gaps like that could
make campus parking tickets a
little easier to deal with, Crowell
said.
“If you’re on campus and you get
a ticket, make sure you know that
it’s going to a good cause now."
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
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DPS case puts
capital projects
at financial risk
BY JOSEPH R. SCHWARTZ
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
A recent action by the N.C.
Supreme Court could put UNC-
Chapel Hill’s plans for construc
tion on parking decks in jeop
ardy.
The court unanimously ruled
July 1 that parking fines on UNC
system campuses belong to the
public school system.
A trial court now will decide if
that ruling will be applied retroac
tively to 1995.
Carolyn Elfland, associate vice
chancellor for campus services,
said if UNC-CH is forced to pay
parking fines retroactive to 1995, it
could mean the Arts Common and
the Bell Tower will be left without
parking decks.
The campus set aside $3.9 mil
lion from fines collected since
2001, but $6.6 million more might
be needed to repay the prior fines
from before that year.
That, coupled with a loss of $1
million in yearly parking fines rev
enue, means the campus might
have to rethink its development
plans.
“(We’re) probably not going to
be able to afford as many decks as
we otherwise would be able to,” she
said.
But she and other officials con
tinue to stress that much still needs
to be decided before the final fig
ures and impact are known.
A date is yet to be set for the
case, but Michael Crowell, attor
ney for the public schools, said a
resolution could be reached by
early fall.
Money generated from parking
fines traditionally goes toward
debt incurred on parking decks
and the operational costs of
enforcement.
Under the recent ruling, UNC
CH can keep up to 10 percent of
parking fines to fund collection
costs, but all other monies must be
turned in.
Elfland estimated that funding
collection and enforcement costs
$750,000 annually 5650,000
(Eljr iattg (Ear Urd
“We have to look
at our budget and
see how we are
going to afford this
enforcement”
CAROLYN ELFLAND, UNC-CH OFFICIAL
more than the maximum the
University could keep.
“We don’t make a profit on park
ing, so if we lose income we have to
get it from somewhere else,” said
Leslie Winner, general counsel for
the UNC system.
She said campuses might be
forced to raise the cost of parking
permits to make up the dispar
ity
“It’s going to shift this cost from
the lawbreakers to the law abiders,”
she said.
Still, UNC-CH police Chief
Derek Poarch said despite the rul
ing, officers will remain aggressive
in writing and collecting fines.
UNC-CH currently is paying
debt on the Rams Head parking
deck, and three other projects are
already underway.
But while many questions
remain, Elfland said one thing is
certain: Officials must find a way
to fund parking enforcement.
“We can’t say, ‘Well we just
won’t have enforcement any
more,’” she said.
“The whole system would col
lapse. ... We have to look at our
budget and see how we are going
to afford this enforcement.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
(Eljp Sattg (Ear Hrrl
P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Becca Moore, Editor, 962-4086
Advertising & Business, 962-1163
News, Features, Sports, 962-0245
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