human-rights vehicle mail illinois
Village/City Sticker
<p>I have several questions in regard to a citation I just received in the mail. I moved to a Chicago suburb this last year that apparently requires you to pay for a sticker for each car you own. It's not a parking sticker, just called a "Village Sticker". The citation I received states my violation as having "No Village Sticker". It says that I already received a citation on 01/01/15. I did not. It continues to say that if I do not pay the amount due within 10 days of the date of <em>this</em> notice, it will result in a Determination of Liability. The Notice is dated 10/05/2015. I received the notice in the mail on 10/16/2015 and it is post marked 10/08/2015. Since I am already past the "due" date I am trying to figure out exactly what to do. I could attend the hearing, but I'd like to be a little more informed about the following:</p>

<p>-Can I do anything about not having received the citation claimed in this notice (01/01/15)?</p>

<p>-Is it ok that the notice was dated on a Monday (10/05) and not posted until Thursday (10/08)?</p>

<p>More generally, how is this type of required sticker even lawful? Is it essentially a tax?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>The law assumes 5 days for mailing. A post mark is prima facie proof that it was mailed and the presumption, that you  have to rebut, is that it was received. Did you recently move, where it would be forwarded?  If so, it will have a forwarding sticker and this will get you  another 5 days. If not, you are pretty much out of luck, unless you can get you mailman or some other PO employee to sign an affidavit explaining why it would've been delayed.  EVERYONE says they didn't get those notices on time. They won't believe you.</p>

<p>If you can't get or don't have one of the things I mentioned, you have to pay it, unless you can talk the clerk into allowing a late appeal. If it's something they leave on your car (the first one you say you didn't get), again, they won't believe you didn't get it. Everyone says this. So, you are going to try to convince them that not only did you not get the ticket,  but you also didn't get the mail. This is a very difficult (I'd wager impossible) sell. Nobody is this unlucky. You need to understand that they hear people say this, all day long. They never got the ticket. They never got the notice. It is the </p>

<p><strong>If you could manage to preserve your right to appeal</strong>, the only way to overcome the presumption that you new you had a ticket and didn't just ignore it until you realized how big the fine is, is to  subpoena the surveillance images that almost certainly exist, as the city is littered with street surveillance. They can tell, from the time on your ticket, the exact time it was written. If you are granted a right to appeal, you can subpoena the disk and hope it shows someone (other than you) taking it, the officer failing to place it, or it blowing away. You only get this right, however, if you can convince them you didn't get the notice to appeal on time. This will be a hurdle in and of itself. </p>

<p><strong>I forgot to mention</strong>: These type of village or neighborhood permits are very common in big cities. It is, in a way, a parking sticker. It gives you the right to park in a neighborhood where street parking is reserved for residents of that particular "village". Without one, you can't park in certain neighborhoods on the street, and need to find either a garage, or some other open spot that is not reserved for the residents. They do this because many of the apartments/condos/row houses etc., don't have private parking spaces. Without limiting the available parking to only folks who live in the area, they would never be able to park even remotely near their homes, with buying a spot, which can run $500 or more, monthly...and that is if they can even find an available space to rent nearby.</p>
