The City of East Lansing is rejecting parking tickets issued last Saturday, June 10th, two days after it became a federal holiday.
President Joe Biden signed a bill last Thursday making June 10 or June 19, a day to commemorate the end of slavery in America, the twelfth federal holiday.
But in cities like East Lansing, where parking is free on public holidays, that created meter confusion.
“Obviously it’s a federal holiday,” Mayor Aaron Stephens said at a city council meeting on Tuesday. “I think it was more of a miscommunication about the timing of things.”
East Lansing Police Department issued seven public parking permits on Saturday, confirmed Captain Chad Connelly. To ease the financial burden on these tickets, the department is working with District Court 54-B to get them fired.
“Because this federal holiday was declared two days before it happened, there wasn’t much guidance for us,” Connelly said.
Tickets for blocking access, parking on private property and other violations cannot be canceled.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought news of emancipation to some of America’s last remaining enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, two months after the Confederation surrendered and two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday was passed unanimously in the Senate and 415-14 in the House of Representatives.
East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas said the city is adding a certain number of free parking days to its annual budget. Currently, the city offers free parking on New Years Eve and Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve and Day.
East Lansing is now working with the court to find out how people who have already paid for their parking tickets can get refunds. Lahanas wasn’t aware of how long this could take, but said rejecting an unpaid ticket was a quick process.
Stephens is also aiming for paid vacation for city workers next year.
“While things have happened pretty quickly on the holiday side, I think next year it is important that we plan a paid day off within the city,” he said on Tuesday. “This is now a federal holiday and should be treated as such.”
If East Lansing introduces the day off, Lahanas said the council would have to reconsider the budget to include compensation as “a significant part of our workforce still works on public holidays,” including the police. These employees would earn vacation pay that needs to be factored into the budget.
Public parking in downtown East Lansing is free on Sundays and Holidays. Michigan State University doesn’t enforce parking on its six university holidays.
Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at (517) 267-1344 or [email protected] Follow her on Twitter @KrystalRNurse.
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