Expensive "Reform"

Not that we disagree with all of it:

• Mayor Lori Lightfoot proposed several reforms to how Chicago handles fines and fees, including no longer suspending the driver’s licenses of people who haven’t paid parking tickets and reducing vehicle sticker penalties.
  
  Lightfoot’s proposed overhaul, which will be introduced at Wednesday’s City Council meeting, also includes creating a six-month payment plan that reduces required down payments and gives those with ticket debt more time to pay. It also allows people to request a 24-hour extension to pay their fines in full or get on a payment plan after their vehicles are locked with a Denver boot, though the plan does not ban use of the controversial device that has been the bane of many motorists’ existence.
  
  The proposed reforms will end the doubling of city sticker ticket prices from $200 to $400 for failure to purchase within the required time, and the city won’t issue tickets on the same or consecutive days for sticker violations, Lightfoot said.

The doubled fine was pretty obscene. If you couldn't afford the $200 for whatever reason, you aren't going to be able to afford the $400. But responsible people budget for completely predictable expenses....like a city sticker payment that comes around every single year.

That being said:

• From 2007 to 2016, only 1 out of 3 tickets were paid, Valencia said. The city is owed more than $200 million in city sticker debt alone, she said.

That's the flip side. Chances are Chicago will never see any of that $200 million without an effective stick to collect itm and that's only the City Sticker portion. Is Groot writing that money off? Because she ain't making it up in convention business if she's working to shut down government conferences (see post directly above this one).