The Taipei City Government issued more traffic tickets last year not only to make up for a revenue shortfall amid an economic recession, but also to fatten its employees' wallets, several Taipei City councilors alleged yesterday.
The number of traffic tickets issued by the city's Parking Management and Development Office and the Taipei City Police Department last year increased to 3.9 million from 2.3 million in 2007, with total fines reaching NT$3.6 billion (US$103 million).
Traffic police officers and employees at the Parking Management and Development Office, from the director down to the janitors, received monthly bonuses because of the record number of fines, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊端雄) said.
"The economic situation is making life more difficult for most people. However, not all of the fines go to the national treasury. Part of the money goes into those civil servants' pockets," he said at the Taipei City Council.
Basic-level staff received a bonus of between NT$1,000 and NT$5,000 each month for handling traffic ticket matters, while higher-level officials received as much as NT$9,800 in bonus from the fines, city government statistics showed.
Of the NT$426 million in parking ticket fines the office received last year, more than NT$10 million went to office staff. About NT$3.2 million of the NT$137 million in fines the police department collected went to police officers, the statistics showed.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Huang Hsiang-chun (黃向群) condemned the city government for failing to set up fair regulations on the distribution of monthly bonuses and urged the city government to amend the regulations.
"It might be reasonable for those who issue the tickets to get the bonus, but why should we give bonuses to the office director, his driver and even the janitors who are not responsible for handing out the tickets," Huang said.
A police officer at the Nangang branch of the police department, surnamed Kao, issued more than 24,000 traffic tickets last year, Chuang said, calling on the city government to focus more efforts on fighting crime rather than fining the city's residents.
In response, Chang Cheng-liang (詹政良), chief secretary of the Parking Management and Development Office, acknowledged that all staff in the office received monthly bonuses from the fines, but argued that the bonuses were distributed in accordance with the regulations.
Chen Shao-hsu (陳少旭), director of the police department's enforcement team, said the regulations stated that the monthly bonus given to each policeman should be no more than 10 percent of their monthly salary, dismissing accusations that police officers were deliberately looking to increase their bonuses by issuing more tickets.
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