For anyone in Scarborough who once thought a parking ticket was no big deal, this summer those bright pieces of paper stuck under the windshield wiper might carry a heavier fine.

At Thursday’s Town Council meeting, held after the Current’s deadline, the town was expected to hold a public hearing on raising parking fines town wide. General fines will increase from $25 to $100, and more serious fines such as parking in a handicap spot or fire lane will go from $100 to $150.

“Part of the problem was we didn’t feel people were taking parking fines seriously enough,” said Town Manager Ron Owens. A fine of “$25 is not necessarily a deterrent.”

Scarborough Police Chief Robert Moulton agrees. “The fee structure isn’t that good,” said Moulton. “Particularly at Higgins beach some people are willing to pay $25. It could be seen by some as a bargain.”

Owens doesn’t believe the rise in fines will affect many residents. Rather, the idea is to remind beach goers that a fine is not merely a parking fee. Owens hopes this will discourage visitors from parking wherever they want when headed to the beach.

Town Council Chairman Steve Ross agrees people were not paying attention to parking fines. “It would seem that our parking fines were on the lower end of the scale,” he said. “People were taking advantage of them.”

In both 2004 and 2005 the highest number of parking tickets were issued in the beach areas, totaling at about 250 of the 400 issued each year. The second highest were fire lane violations and third were handicap tickets.

Of the surrounding towns, Scarborough has some of the lowest parking fines. If they are successfully raised, the town will be slightly above average. Old Orchard Beach, Biddeford, Cape Elizabeth and Ogunquit all charge $100 for violations such as illegally parking in a handicap space.

Scarborough doesn’t make much money from parking tickets. Since last July, $8,655 in parking fines has been paid to the town.

“Not that many tickets are written and not that much is collected,” said Owens. “It’s just a matter of being more of a nuisance.”

The second problem Owens points out is that not everyone pays the tickets. In the last two years, only about half of all issued tickets were paid.

The new parking fines system includes two incentives to pay them off in short order. Drivers with three or more tickets risk having their cars impounded. Also, if tickets are paid within one month the fine will reduce by half. For those who still refuse to pay, Owens explained, the increased fines will help the town cover court costs.

“It’s just our way of trying to deal,” said Owens.

Moulton hopes a better appeals process will help prevent the town from going to court over parking fines. Also, the tickets will be a brighter color and come with an envelope to encourage drivers to send them in right away.

Besides changes in the fees and system of paying them, who can issue parking tickets would also change. According to Moulton, members of the Volunteers in Police Service program will be able to give tickets. These dozen or so residents are not sworn officers, rather they are people with a little more time, such as stay at home moms and retirees who can patrol neighborhoods and parking lots.

“They’re basically our eyes and ears,” said Moulton. “They’re members of the community who want to give back that community.”

While Moulton thinks it’s necessary to overhaul the parking fines in Scarborough he doesn’t see it as making any huge changes.

“It’s nothing earth shattering,” he said. “We just try to continually look at our programs, and this one I wasn’t particularly happy with.”