You may think throwing your parking tickets away instead of paying them is no big deal, but the City of Cheyenne is stepping up efforts to collect their money.

Mayor Patrick Collins says drivers owe the city more than $200,000 in unpaid parking tickets.

"We use the money collected from parking to make the scheduled bond payments on the Spiker Parking Garage -- an amount of $638,331 for our next payment this year," Collins said during a press conference Monday.

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"Not collecting dollars means we have to reach into our budget to make the payment and that hurts our other departments," he added.

That's why starting tomorrow, Feb. 1, the city is implementing a one-month amnesty period, meaning people can pay their overdue ticket(s) -- those not paid within 15 days of issuance -- without incurring a $30 late fee.

"You can check to see if you have an outstanding parking ticket by stopping by the Public Safety Building at 415 W. 18th Street and checking with our Parking Administrator Ted Miazga," Collins said. "You can call him at 637-6586 or you can email Ted at tmiazga@cheyennepd.org."

"If you can't pay the full amount we will make a payment schedule with you," he added.

Once the amnesty period ends, the late fee will be reapplied and the city will begin deploying the Barnacle Parking Enforcement System, a modern-day boot that immobilizes scofflaws' vehicles.

"This device will be placed on the offender's windshield," said Collins. "To get it removed you will have to pay your outstanding tickets and a fee to the Barnacle company of $250 plus a $200 refundable deposit."

"My hopes would be that we would not have to Barnacle anyone's car," he added. "That decision will be made by you ... pay your tickets, enter into a parking payment plan, or you will find your car with a very expensive Barnacle attached to your windshield."

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