There's nothing quite like that feeling of returning to your car to find a ticket on the windshield. It's got to be somewhere in the top 10 list of the most annoying things to happen to your bank account, and sometimes it feels like cities issue parking tickets for the sole purpose of making extra money and annoying drivers.
But in Las Vegas, parking tickets are becoming a force for good. The city is allowing people to pay off their tickets by donating school supplies.
According to a news release, the city council unanimously approved the new plan for the month of July. Drivers can pay off their tickets by bringing new, unwrapped school supplies of equal or greater value to the Parking Services offices until July 19.
The supplies will go to the Teacher Exchange, a nonprofit that distributes school supplies to public schools in Southern Nevada.
Is there any chance that every major city will adopt this policy permanently? One can only hope.
There are very few things that everyone can agree on, but the annoyance of parking tickets is definitely one of them. There's nothing to like about them!
But nonetheless, parking tickets must be dealt with. They are among those things that only get worse if you ignore them.
The Las Vegas City Council came up with an ingenious solution to make people actually excited about paying their parking tickets. Seems impossible, I know.
Las Vegas will accept payment for parking tickets issued between June 19 and July 19 in the form of school supply donations.
"Any supplies taken in by the city through the program will be donated to the Teachers Exchange, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that is associated with the Public Education Foundation," a press release read.
Drivers can bring their donations to the Parking Services offices. The school supplies must be new and unwrapped, and drivers must also bring a receipt.
The supplies have to be worth a value equal to or greater than the parking fine. Also, they must be brought in within 30 days of the citation date.
It's a brilliant solution. Drivers generally want to get rid of their parking tickets ASAP but hate actually ponying up the money. Meanwhile, teachers in the US are often chronically short on supplies.
Accepted supplies include some basics, such as pens, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, and copy paper.
Drivers can also bring dry erase markers, paper towels, storage bins, rulers, scissors, or index cards, among other supplies.
The Teacher Exchange will then distribute these supplies directly to teachers in Southern Nevada public schools.
The nonprofit distributed over 2.3 million items to public school teachers in 2015-16, and every donation counts.
This is not the first instance of a city accepting donations in lieu of payment for parking tickets. In 2018, the city had a similar program, but the school supplies were donated to a different organization, Project 150, which focuses on homeless and other vulnerable high school students.
The ordinance that allows Las Vegas to adopt occasional programs like this was first passed in July 2016.
Also in 2016, the city of Strasburg in Virginia accepted canned food donations as payment for parking tickets. That plan lasted for four months.
Strasburg was inspired by Lexington, Kentucky, which started a similar program in 2015.
"The idea actually came from a friend that told me about a town in Kentucky that did this," Strasburg Police Chief Tim Sutherly told CBS News. "I liked the idea and approached the town manager and he agreed that it was a great idea."
If you don't live in Las Vegas, there's always a chance that a similar plan will be adopted in your city one day! You could even bring up the idea to your city council members.
And if you do live in Las Vegas, you may be tempted to park illegally on purpose this month (but don't do it — you can still donate school supplies without getting a parking ticket).
