By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY
Habitual parking offenders be warned - the city of Tel Aviv has proved itself more than willing to come down hard on people who accumulate numerous fines and refuse to pay them. www.mynet.co.il reports that the city recently seized one such offender's car and sold it off for just NIS 2,700, less than one-fifth of its market value of NIS 16,000.
According to the report, the Tel Aviv resident had been issued with 39 parking fines, amounting to NIS 12,191, during an eight-year period. Most of the fines were issued when he parked his vehicle, a 1996 Nissan Largo, illegally outside premises where he worked as a sound technician. The man refused to pay the fines and in February this year the city seized the vehicle. A municipal spokesman said the city warned the man in April that if he did not pay up the car would be sold, but no payment was made and in May it was sold at public auction, for just NIS 2,700.
The report said the man was now complaining that the vehicle had been used for work purposes and losing it had caused him to lose his income and declare bankruptcy. He was also questioning how it could have been sold for such a low price. But the municipal spokesman said the man "has only himself to blame."
Meanwhile, in a separate report, www.mynet.co.il says that one of the biggest car parks in central Tel Aviv, the 600-space Beit Hadar car park on the corner of Menahem Begin and Yehuda Halevy streets, is being transferred from a private operator to the municipal Ahuzat Hahof company in a move aimed at improving parking options for local residents. The municipal company accepts "Tav Laila" night-time parking cards issued by the city, enabling residents of the area to park for free between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. on weekdays, and between 3 p.m. and 8 a.m. over weekends and holidays. All Ahuzat Hahof car parks in Tel Aviv also offer a 50 per cent discount on parking fees to all Tel Aviv and Jaffa residents.
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