Just Taxes Blog by ITEP

Category: Fines and Fees


  • Andrew Boardman
    Andrew Boardman
    Local Policy Analyst
    July 18, 2023

    States and Localities are Making Progress on Curbing Unjust Fees and Fines

    Too many state and local governments tap legal-system collections, rather than adequate tax systems, to fund shared essentials like public safety and education. But a growing number of states and localities are choosing a better approach. Momentum for change has continued to build in 2023, with no fewer than seven states enacting substantial improvements.
  • Jenice R. Robinson
    Communications Director
    April 4, 2022

    Punitive Fines and Fees Are an Invisible Cost of State Tax Cuts 

    The deck is stacked against those who have the least, and ongoing racism makes it even more difficult for people of color to avoid punitive systems that are intentionally structured to extract what, for poor people, can be usurious penalties. The nation collectively shrugs about such injustices because they are either invisible or we chalk up entanglements in any legal morass to personal behavior. But the truth is that, indirectly, we are all part of the fines-and-fees matrix that entraps poor people in debt or keeps them tethered to the criminal justice system. None of us should look away. 
  • Meg Wiehe
    Meg Wiehe
    Deputy Executive Director
    September 4, 2019

    Why Local Jurisdictions’ Heavy Reliance on Fines and Fees Is a Tax Policy Issue

    The exposé (Addicted to Fines: Small Towns Are Dangerously Dependent) raises two important issues that policymakers have the power to address. One, lack of revenue at the local level is linked to a broader challenge with state tax systems. Two, fines and fees often entrap lower-income people in a cycle of debt and, in some jurisdictions, ultimately criminalize poverty by casting unpaid fines as misdemeanor crimes.

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