Orange City Council's parking inspectors have issued more fines than both Dubbo and Bathurst combined.
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The revelation comes as data released by NSW Revenue revealed Orange's total for the 2022/23 financial year was its highest since before the Covid pandemic.
Throughout the most recently recorded 12 month span, Orange motorists were issued 3875 parking fines which equated to just more than $770,000.
Both of those figures were the highest they had been since the 2019/20 financial year, where drivers were hit with $860,000 worth of fines.
The number of tickets issued prior to 2020 were more often than not above 400 for any given month. But from the beginning of April 2020 - when only 12 infringement notices were given - the figures dropped at a drastic rate.
The low tally continued on for the next nine months, with only 665 issued in total over that time period.
At least one of the reasons for the shift was the council did away with paid parking at places such as the Ophir Car Park. This was reintroduced in May 2023 following the peak of the pandemic and the "majority" of the Lords Place upgrades being completed.
However, during that three year period, the fines issued for parking offences in school zones remained relatively stable.
360 fines were issued in this category during 2020-21 which was followed by 367 in 2021-22. This most recent year did see an increase to 497, the second highest amount since 2017-18.
Orange's overall numbers still soared above its neighbours though.
For 2022/23, Dubbo Council issued 2682 fines for a total $444,467. Both of these numbers were the highest recorded since 2016-17 - which is as far back as the NSW Revenue figures go.
Bathurst had a lower number still, with just 658 fines recorded for a total of $90,827 in 2022-23. The latter number was way down on its pre-pandemic results, with Bathurst motorists forking out $421,581 during the 2019-20 financial year.
Orange City Council has been approached for comment regarding the reasons for the sharp increase.
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