The city of Merritt is looking to opt in to the bylaw notice enforcement system, which would allow it to mail out tickets for by-law infractions, or place tickets on the dash of a vehicle.

Manager of Corporate Services Sean Smith says the issue came up after a resident took pictures of a truck that was illegally dumping in the community. He says they identified the culprit, but found it was more expensive than it was worth. “The person lived in the lower mainland. So, we looked at avenues for giving that person a ticket, it’s certainly not something we want to see in the city of Merritt area, and the cost of hiring a process server to actually personally serve that ticket was greater than the amount of the fine itself.”

Smith says it would only really be applicable to smaller infractions. “So kind of the most minor bylaw offences would be dealt with through the bylaw notice enforcement system.” He adds that the intent isn’t to make a lot of money as it would generate just thousands in revenue; a drop in the bucket of a municipal budget. “We thought that it may make sense to do what 91 other local governments have done and consider opting into this bylaw notice enforcement system that would allow for mail out notices or to put them on dashes of cars.”

Smith says it will take up to a year to fully opt in.