> criminally prosecuting people (with taxpayer resources) to enforce private debts owed to the meter company, there’s a good chance a court would find the pract

> criminally prosecuting people (with taxpayer resources) to enforce private debts owed to the meter company, there’s a good chance a court would find the practice to be illegal. The deal structure is as follows: - if the city fails to prosecute a parking violation, the city pays to the parking company anyways. - so your debt is to the city: fee for a parking violation, not a debt to the private company. - the city can immobilize / tow your car if it has an unpaid ticket. That’s very expensive.