Somerville Parking Tickets: Fines, Appeals, and Towing

Somerville parking tickets run from $30 for an expired meter to $200 for parking in a handicapped space, and you have 21 days from the date on the ticket to pay or file an appeal before late fees, an RMV hold, and eventual booting come into play.¹

What the Ticket Costs

The city’s fine schedule sorts violations into tiers set by the Code of Ordinances.¹

$30: expired meter or exceeding the posted time limit.
$50: parking without a resident permit, blocking street sweeping, double parking, parking on a sidewalk, parking the wrong direction, overtime parking, parking within 20 feet of an intersection, parking in a crosswalk, obstructing a bicycle lane, and most other general violations.
$100: parking at a bus stop, within 10 feet of a fire hydrant, obstructing a driveway, blocking a posted fire lane, or violating a snow emergency tow zone.
$200: parking in a handicapped space or obstructing a handicap ramp.

Snow emergencies carry a parallel $100 schedule for blocking a plow route, parking within 10 feet of a hydrant, or parking within 20 feet of an intersection while an emergency is declared.¹

How to Pay

You need the ticket number and license plate. When you enter the ticket number online, drop the two-letter prefix (such as SX or SO) and leave out spaces and hyphens. Four options are available:²

Online through the Parking Department’s payment portal, using Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover. A convenience fee applies.
By phone at 844-807-9069 with a credit or debit card.
By mail with a check or money order payable to “Somerville Parking Clerk,” sent to City of Somerville, PO Box 9102, Somerville, MA 02143-9102.
In person at the Parking Department, 133 Holland Street, with cash, check, money order, or card. Hours are Monday through Wednesday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday 9 a.m. to noon.

Somerville’s 311 line runs 24/7 and can process a payment or start an appeal, but 311 staff cannot dismiss or adjust the ticket itself.³

How to Appeal

Three channels are open, each with its own clock:²

Online through the Parking Department’s appeal portal within 21 days of the ticket date. You can upload up to three supporting documents.
By mail to the Parking Department within 21 days of the ticket date.
In person at 133 Holland Street within 30 days of the ticket date.

A mail or online appeal comes with a catch: you waive further appeal rights unless you produce additional evidence within 10 days of the hearing decision. Appealing in person keeps a broader set of options open. Evidence that tends to hold up includes timestamped photos of the signage at the location, proof of a valid permit, or documentation that the meter was malfunctioning.

Handwritten tickets issued by Somerville Police may not appear in the online or phone systems. Those can still be appealed by mail or in person.²

Do nothing for 21 days and the city schedules an in-person hearing for you automatically, mailing the hearing notice roughly 45 days after the ticket was issued. By then the late fees have already been added.²

What Happens If You Don’t Pay

The penalties stack in a set order, and the total climbs well past the original fine:¹

After 21 days, a $5 late fee is added.
After the 30-day notice period following the city’s first-class mail notice, another $15 is added.
When the Parking Clerk reports the unpaid ticket to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, a $40 administrative penalty is added.

A $50 permit ticket can reach $110 before the RMV adds anything of its own.

The RMV Hold

Once Somerville reports two or more unpaid tickets, the registry will not renew your driver’s license or vehicle registration until every outstanding balance is cleared. The RMV tacks on a $20 surcharge per violation, so five unpaid tickets means $100 in RMV surcharges by themselves.⁴ The city collects the RMV surcharge along with your fines, so you settle everything in one place.⁵

The hold does not lift on its own after payment. Call Somerville 311, or 617-666-3311 from outside the city, and ask that the registry hold be released.⁶

Booting and Towing

Vehicles with five or more overdue, unpaid tickets can be immobilized with a boot or towed at the owner’s expense.⁷ State law authorizes municipalities to immobilize or remove a vehicle once the owner has five or more unresolved parking notices.⁵

Getting a Towed Car Back

Start at the Somerville Police Station, 220 Washington Street. Only the registered owner can reclaim the vehicle, and you must bring photo identification. The station issues a claim check that you take to the tow lot at 60 Union Street in Medford, MA 02155. Somerville currently uses Stephen’s Towing.⁸

You will owe the tow company’s fees on top of every outstanding fine and penalty the city is holding against the plate, and storage charges grow each day the car sits. Pay the fines and call 311 to release any RMV hold before you head to the lot. It saves a second trip.

1
Encode Plus. Somerville MA Code of Ordinances – Article XI Penalties and Repeals
2
City of Somerville. Parking Department
3
City of Somerville. 311 Constituent Services
4
Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. Non-Renewal Program Manual
5
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part I, Title XIV, Chapter 90, Section 20A
6
City of Somerville. I Paid a Parking Ticket but Am Still on Registry Hold
7
City of Somerville. Vehicle Booting and Towing Resumes May 3 in Somerville
8
Somerville Police Department. Towing Information