Vermont Town Fights NYC Parking Ticket for 5-Ton Loader

Town administrators in Lincoln, Vermont, are disputing a $115 New York City parking ticket issued to their 5-ton wheel-loader, which they state hasn’t even left the garage often, WCAX reported. The citation claims the heavy municipal vehicle was parked illegally in Queens, triggering months of administrative conflict for local officials.

An Improbable Journey Across Three Hundred Miles

The municipal wheel-loader serves a single primary function on local property. “Our main use is to move the sand pile out back, and it rarely leaves the vicinity of the garage, where it’s kept under lock and key,” Lincoln Town Administrator Trish Waugh said. The vehicle would need to traverse nearly 300 miles south to reach Queens. “Max speed is 25 miles per hour. I’m pretty sure you would run out of gas,” Waugh said regarding the physical limitations of the machinery.

Transporting the heavy equipment presents a logistical impossibility for the small town. Waugh noted that the municipality lacks a trailer capable of hauling the 5-ton machine. Strict storage security blocks unauthorized removal. “We don’t have a trailer that can trail it. You can’t drive it on the road. And even if somebody had backed up a trailer to grab it while we weren’t around, it lives in the garage; there’s no way anybody could have gotten in to get it,” Waugh said.

Legal Battle Costs More than Original Ticket

Waugh stated that the town mailed a check to New York City to settle the initial fine, but the payment remained uncashed while late fees accumulated on top of the original $115 penalty. “It’s not even a matter of the money. It’s taken more money to fight this thing than the actual cost of the ticket, but it’s not right,” Waugh said.

The protracted battle consumes hours that administrators typically dedicate to municipal governance. “Something else isn’t getting done because I’m dealing with this. I’m not getting a grant or I’m not applying for needed funding,” Waugh said.

Lincoln Officials Plan to Appeal Citation

WCAX News contacted New York City’s Department of Finance for more information about the ticketing process but had not received a response prior to publication. Town officials plan to continue their pushback against the citation. Waugh confirmed that Lincoln administrators will hold a meeting in the coming weeks to appeal the decision and clear the municipal record of the disputed penalties.