Avoid late fees!
- Respond to UW Tacoma citations in the Parking Portal
- Pay or appeal within 20 days of issuance
- Citations are LATE after 20 days and receive a $10 late fee
- Late citations cannot be appealed
Know who issued your citation
Your parking citation should state the entity that issued it (likely either UW Tacoma Transportation Services, City of Tacoma, or Republic Parking System) and include instructions on how to respond to it (either paying the fine or submitting an appeal). Here is some additional information that may help you address your citation:
- Citations say "University of Washington Tacoma" at the top
- Violation number starts with "UWT"
- Respond to your citation (pay or appeal) in the Parking Portal within 20 days to avoid the $10 late fee
- Citations cannot be appealed after 20 days
- Citations say "Republic Parking System" at the top
- If you received a citation even though you have a valid parking permit for a Community Partner lot from Republic displayed in your vehicle, please email us a photo of the citation.
- In all other cases, visit their website at www.rpnw.com to pay or appeal within 15 days
- Complete instructions are on the back side of your citation
- Contact the Tacoma Municipal court at 253-591-5357 if you have lost your citation or need assistance
- Pay your fine or request a court hearing to appeal using the Tacoma Municipal Court online portal within 30 days
- Learn more about the City of Tacoma's parking policies and citation payment on their website
Responding to a UWT citation
There are two ways to respond to a UWT parking citation. You may either pay the fine or submit an appeal request. For either option, you will need to find your citation in the UW Tacoma online Parking Portal.
If the Parking Portal is not recognizing your citation number, make sure you are using the UW Tacoma portal. UW Seattle has a similar but completely separate portal.
While the Transportation Services team is happy to help answer your questions and assist you in navigating this process, contacting our office by phone or email does not count as responding to your citation.
Pay citation fines
Pay online by credit or debit card using UW Tacoma's Parking Portal. This is the fastest and easiest way to pay your UW Tacoma parking citation.
To pay by mail, simply send us a check. For safety reasons, please do not send cash through the mail. Cash payments can be made on campus (see below).
Payable to: UW Tacoma
Memo line: Your citation number (if it does not start with "UWT", do not send us payment, as we did not issue the citation!) and license plate number
Mail checks to:
University of Washington Tacoma
Campus Box 358433
1900 Commerce Street
Tacoma, WA 98402-3100
Check Example:
(this example shows a student ID number on the memo line, instead, put your citation number)
Payments can be placed in the drop box outside DOU 176. The drop box is stocked with pre-labeled envelopes. Place your check, made payable to UWT, into the envelope and be sure to provide the information requested on the label. Then drop it down the secure hopper, making sure it drops to the bottom. All envelopes are stored securely in the drop box until they are picked up on a regular basis.
- See "Pay by Mail" for help with check-writing.
- Be sure to include your citation number and license plate number with your payment (either written on the envelope or on the memo line of the check).
- If your citation number does not start with "UWT", do not submit your payment in the drop box as we did not issue the citation!
- If you do not have the exact amount for a cash payment, visit the West Coast Grocery convenience store to make change.
Request to appeal the citation
- Requests for appeals must be submitted in the Parking Portal within 20 days of issuance
- A letter with the appeal reviewer's decision will be sent to your UW email within approximately 2 weeks
- No late fees will be assessed while a citation is in the appeals process
- Any remaining fines or fees are due within 21 days from notice of the appeal decision
You can request an appeal for any citation. The appeals reviewer (a staff member outside of the Transportation Services office) will use the information provided in your request, as well as your past citations and appeals, to make their judgement. Depending on their findings, they may choose to reduce or waive the fines and/or fees, or they may leave them unchanged.
We understand that most people are trying their best to follow the rules and parking on the UW Tacoma campus can sometimes be challenging to navigate. We take this into account when issuing citations, and the appeals reviewer will take this into consideration when reviewing appeals requests.
All appeals requests are reviewed by a UW Tacoma staff person outside of the Transportation Services office. When submitting a request to appeal a citation, make sure to include enough information that this person can make an informed judgement about your request.
Your appeal request should include the following:
- Description of the situation and reason(s) you are requesting the appeal
- Proof of payment (attach receipt showing date/time, your license plate number, etc.) if you did pay for parking
- Screenshot of error message received and date/time if the PayByPhone system was not working
For example, do not just write "PayByPhone app error". Instead...
- Provide the date and time of the issue so that we can check the PayByPhone system outage log.
- Provide a screenshot showing the error that you received so we can help determine the cause.
- Describe the steps you took to try to submit your payment (i.e. closing and restarting the app, restarting your phone, trying a different payment method, trying to pay online vs through the app, etc)
Fines and penalties for citations in late status
Respond to your citation within 20 days to avoid late fees. More serious penalties may be applied in situations with multiple citations in late status. Citations enter late status when they have not been paid or appealed after 20 days.
| Penalty | Applied when... |
|---|---|
| Blocked from purchasing parking permits | A student or employee has more than $25 in unpaid fines |
| $10 Late fee | A citation is not paid or appealed within 20 days of issuance |
| Vehicle immobilized | A vehicle has 4+ citations in late status |
| Vehicle impounded at owner's expense | Owner does not contact Campus Safety or Transportation Services to make payment arrangements within 5 days after immobilization |
Additional penalties
While we rarely exercise these options, Transportation Services withholds the right to do the following in response to unpaid fees and multiple citations in late status:
- Deny future parking privileges to the violator
- Refuse to issue keys to a violator who is an employee or student
Additionally, we reserve the right to immobilize or tow vehicles at the owner's expense for the following reasons:
- Blocking a roadway or walkway and impeding the flow of traffic (vehicle and/or pedestrian)
- Blocking a fire hydrant or fire lane
- Creating a safety hazard
- Blocking another legally parked vehicle
- Parking in a marked "tow-away" zone
- Leaving a vehicle unattended on campus for more than two days
- Four or more citations in late-status (more then 20 days old)
- Parking a non-university vehicle in a spot reserved for university use
The regulations governing parking management on the UW Tacoma campus are listed in Chapter 478-118 WAC.
