Do city fees punish the poor? Lansing could overhaul the way it fines people.

LANSING – A ticket could be a minor inconvenience or, depending on your income, a hardship that spirals into financial disaster.

Lansing is partnering with the National League of Cities to overhaul the way the city goes after low-income people who owe fines and fees. 

The city will receive between $30,000 and $40,000 to examine how those fees impact the city's bottom line and to potentially implement a fairer system.

The league chose Lansing and five other member cities to participate in the program, known as Cities Addressing Fines and Fees Equitably (CAFFE). The grant-based project, made possible by a donation from JPMorgan Chase and Co., will run though summer 2020.

In its application, Lansing zeroed in on areas of interest, including criminal court penalties, ambulance fees and parking tickets, said Amber Paxton, director of Lansing's Office of Financial Empowerment.

The city's initial analysis prior to preparing the application hasn't turned up any "huge inequities," Paxton said.

Nonetheless, she added, "We have to be able to shine a light in the dark corners."

City officials will work with the league to do a "deep-dive" into city revenue and debt collection data, Paxton said. 

"There's probably going to be at least a couple areas where we could be more equitable," she said.

The CAFFE program follows the example of San Francisco's Financial Justice Project.

In San Francisco, the project prompted officials to ensure discounted towing fees for lower-income residents and to forgive a collective $32.7 million in debt owed by 21,000 people for outstanding court fees.

A 2017 report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found cities with higher percentages of black and Latino residents were more likely to rely on revenue from fines and fees.

The study came on the heels of a 2015 U.S. Department of Justice report, which found top city, court and police officials in Ferguson, Missouri made "maximizing revenue" the priority of law enforcement. The report, released following the fatal shooting of black teenager by a white Ferguson police officer, found Ferguson police disproportionately targeted black residents for minor citations.

"I think it's an issue of justice," said Heidi Goldberg, a director at the Institute for Youth, Education, and Families, a division of the National League of Cities."When fines and fees are being right-sized, that's better for the resident and the local government. If there's cascading fines that a resident can't pay, the city doesn't see the money anyway."

The existence of Lansing's Office of Financial Empowerment, founded in 2013, made the city a good a candidate for the league's CAFFE grant, Goldberg said.

"Lansing is pretty well-positioned since they've done some work already to show they're committed to this issue," Goldberg said.

Lansing officials previously partnered with the league and the Lansing Board of Water & Light to set up payment plans for people with outstanding utility bills, Paxton said.

"I think this all is part of this administration’s desire to be doing things that are neighborhood-focused, that are economic mobility focused," Paxton said. "If you are a low-income person and you’re trying to get that leg up, it could be the tiniest thing that knocks you back."

Cities Addressing Fines and Fees Equitably, participating cities:

• Lansing, Michigan
• Aurora, Colorado
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Durham, North Carolina
• Nashville, Tennessee
• Saint Paul, Minnesota

More:

Meet Ingham County's first public defender

ACLU: Detroit court's bail system discriminates against poor defendants

Judge: Stop unfairly suspending Michigan driver's licenses

Contact Sarah Lehr at (517) 377-1056 or slehr@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahGLehr. 

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