Last October, infringement fines rose by an average of 70% for overstaying or parking inconsiderately in council-controlled parking spaces.
The Dunedin City Council enjoyed a bump in revenue of nearly $400,000 and other southern councils have also enjoyed a rise in fine payments.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council has seen a rise of more than $700,000 from the same period in 2023-34, while the Invercargill City Council has seen its income from fines increase by more than $450,000.
Invercargill City Council consenting and environment manager Jonathan Shaw said the jump in fees boosted revenue but also led to some unsavoury behaviour from the public.
"Since the decision to increase parking infringement fees was made by central government, our compliance officers have noticed some push-back from members of the public, including several abusive incidents," Mr Shaw said.
There was only a small number of negative interactions overall, but the council wanted to emphasise abusive and threatening behaviour was not acceptable, he said.
"Ideally, there would be no revenue from parking infringements because everyone would comply with the parking rules."
A contributing factor was the council not issuing infringements for those who failed to activate the kiosk for 30 minutes of free parking between February 2024 and June 2024 while it addressed "challenges" with its bylaw.
That year, a company successfully challenged a $40 fine because of a loophole.
The government introduced an inflation-based increase in parking fees to improve compliance.
Other rural councils have not been as stringent in issuing fines.
Just three fines were issued in the Clutha district last month and 19 in the whole of 2024.
Clutha District Council chief executive Steve Hill said most fines were issued in response to complaints from members of the public.
The council usually dealt with first-time offences by way of a printed warning notice, but if the offence was a repeated one or serious enough then a fine was issued, he said.
The Waitaki District Council bucked the trend with a drop in revenue from parking tickets.
Between October 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, it issued 956 tickets, collecting $68,502. With the new regime, 428 tickets were issued from October 1 last year to June 30 this year, which collected $34,522.
Revenue has also dropped in Gore — it was $22,000 in the 2023-24 financial year, and $16,000 in the 2024-25 year.
Gore District Council regulatory services manager Frances Shepherd said since the government increased parking fines last year, the council had observed an increase in compliance, more people choosing to pay for parking rather than risk a fine.
In recognition of the increased parking fines and broader cost-of-living pressures, it had adopted a softer approach to enforcement and increased education.
As the council approached the one-year mark since the changes were introduced, it would be returning to standard monitoring and enforcement practices.
The Central Otago District Council has only just started parking enforcement in the past few weeks. — Additional reporting by Steve Hepburn
■LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
