Students, faculty members or NIU visitors who toss their parking tickets on the ground or let their tickets pile up might find the university taking drastic measures to get their money.

Students and faculty with even a $2 parking ticket might get bills from the university in their mailboxes if their tickets remain unpaid for more than 30 days, said Patricia Hewitt, associate vice president of Business and Operations.

NIU has a 30-day billing cycle and any outstanding balance is billed to the student or faculty member, Hewitt said.

The NIU Parking Division turns over unpaid tickets to NIU’s Accounts Receivable Department, a Parking Division spokesman said.

NIU Collection Specialist Suzie Shott refused comment concerning the amount of money NIU has tied-up in unpaid parking tickets. Shott also would not comment on the accounts receivable process.

owever, Judicial Officer Larry Bolles, who acts as the Student Affairs representative to the NIU Campus Parking Committee, said the Parking Division collects “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in parking ticket revenues.

If a student or faculty member refuses to pay a parking ticket, the university will take specific measures to collect the amount due, Bolles said.

Students with outstanding parking tickets could find NIU putting an encumberance on their transcripts or class registration materials, he said.

In some cases, Bolles said, the university gets its money by taking money out of university employees’ paychecks.

However, “the only problem we have trouble with is collecting (money from unpaid parking tickets) from non-NIU people,” he said.

NIU visitors who do not pay their parking tickets because they believe the university has no way of collecting the money could receive a bill from the state of Illinois or a collection agency, Bolles said.