July 7 - In an outcome with multimillion-dollar implications spanning across the state, the N.C. Supreme Court ruled Friday that the UNC-system is among several state groups that owe public schools a backlog of civil penalty collections.
Mired in what officials have deemed a critical budget year, UNC-Chapel Hill could be forced to shell out 10 years' worth of parking fines that total more than $10 million.
Money collected from speeding tickets and other criminal offenses traditionally have gone to public schools, but Friday's ruling extends to several more violations once deemed remedial in nature.
Among sums that now will be funneled to public schools are fines collected by the N.C. Department of Transportation for overweight vehicles, parking fines collected on UNC-system school campuses and late tax fines.
But just how much money UNC and other agencies will be forced to forfeit still is open to debate.
The N.C. School Boards Association first filed the lawsuit seeking the funds in 1998, and the ruling can be applied retroactively to 1995.
Michael Crowell, the attorney representing the association, estimated that if all money were collected, public schools would garner an additional $500 million.
Although each of the UNC system's 16 campuses have set aside parking fines since 2001, Leslie Winner, the system's vice president for legal affairs, said they'll fight to avoid retroactive payment.
"We will encourage the attorney general to argue that we shouldn't have to pay this retroactively," she said. "It's not like the university has a big pot of money to pay the funds going backwards."
