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Municipalities across the USA are turning to more aggressive parking enforcement and higher parking fines to shore up declining revenue.

"Cities are looking for as many avenues as they can to alleviate these budget shortfalls," says Martin Stein, president of the National Parking Association, which represents more than 1,200 companies and municipalities.

Justin McNaull, AAA director of state relations, says fines provide a real temptation for enthusiastic enforcement, because they have the added benefit of producing revenue for governments. However, he says there are risks associated with it.

"For tourists, strict parking enforcement probably won't keep them away, so much as it will leave them embittered when they receive a ticket if parking regulations were poorly displayed or a meter was enforced with little or no buffer or if a fine was exceedingly high," McNaull says. "For suburbanites, parking tickets might dissuade some of them from going to certain neighborhoods if they fear overzealous parking enforcement officers."

California imposed a statewide $3 additional fee on municipalities starting Jan. 1, 2009, for each parking citation to increase funding for the state court facilities construction fund, according to Bruce Gillman, spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. The new fee came on top of a $1.50 state fee, bringing the state's charge to $4.50 per parking fine.

That spurred several cities to increase their fines this year. Santa Monica increased its parking fines from $40 to $50 in June, according to Carol Swindell, the city's director of finance.

Berkeley increased its parking fines in June from $35 to $40 says Julie Sinai, the chief of staff for Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates. Sonoma voted to increase its parking fines in June from $20 to $40, according to Mayor Ken Brown. Gillman says Los Angeles increased parking tickets from $40 to $45 last July.

Elsewhere:

•Yonkers, N.Y., increased the parking fines in June to help pay for its $900 million budget, says David Simpson, a city spokesman. Overtime parking fines will increase to $50 from $40, and no-standing fines will increase to $70 from $50. The increases are estimated to bring in an additional $1.2 million in revenue, he says.

• Newark, N.J., increased parking fines by $20 in June, says Ethelyn Bowers, director of administration for the Newark Parking Authority. She says fines will increase from $25 to $45, which allows the city to glean more revenue from each ticket.

•Andover, Mass., increased parking fines this month, said Lt. James Hashem, commander of the Andover Police Department. According to Hashem, most parking fines will increase from $15 to $20, which is estimated to bring in an additional $70,000 in revenue.

• Washington will install cameras on street sweeping equipment to issue citations to people who do not move their cars, says Erica Stanley, a district spokesman. The cameras are expected to bring in an additional $6,828,000 after maintenance. The district hired an additional 52 parking control officers.

New York City has not changed its parking enforcement tactics or fees since 2002, says Monty Dean, a Department of Transportation spokesman.