The City Council’s proposal to hike snow emergency fines is cold.

Iowa City officials want to raise the fines for parking violations during snow emergencies from $15 to $50. This move, they say, would goad violators into moving their vehicles to make room for snowplows and the like. On Tuesday night, the City Council set a public hearing on the issue for Nov. 2.

We urge the members of the public to voice their disapproval of the change and encourage city councilors to reduce the amount of the proposed increase.

The winter of 2007-08 made city officials realize they needed to change their snow-emergency policies, said Rick Fosse, Iowa City’s director of public works. Frozen snow and ice smothered the streets, and plows were forced to work around illegally parked cars. He said residents called in wondering why they felt required to move their cars, while their neighbors were illegally parked with no consequences.

There is a need for added incentives to move cars. Plowing in residential streets is imperative to daily life in the dead of an Iowa winter, and snow emergencies are nothing to take lightly. But a $50 fine would be too high, especially in light of recently passed ordinances.

In July, the council passed an ordinance allowing cars with accumulated parking fines of $50 or over to be towed. Parking tickets are normally incremental; that is, they start low and continue to increase for repeat offenders. While the council passed the ordinance in a time that left many students unaware of the change, it wasn’t an overly burdensome move. It’s easy for students to pull the ticket from their windshield and stuff it into the bottom of their cup holder.

But to impose a $50 fine on one-time violators, which could end up getting them towed, is too strict.

While Fosse said the proposed fine increase was not meant as a way to allow for immediate towing during snow emergencies, the threat looms.

If towing capability was not a motivation for the raise, the city should spare first-time violators the hassle of making their way to the impoundment lot, especially if conditions are bad enough to be deemed a snow emergency. After officials declare a snow emergency, drivers have four hours to comply with the policy. Certain circumstances may prevent someone from moving her or his car within that allotted time slot.

Instead, officials should consider raising the fines from $15 to $25. If raising the fine is just an incentive, as Fosse said, any increase should make an impression. Furthermore, if first-time violators with no outstanding tickets are in violation and if there is some circumstance impeding their ability to move the car, they would not have to worry about having their vehicle impounded.

A $25 fine would be a punishing spur that drivers would try to avoid. And if it’s not, then the threat of a second violation and the possibility of being towed surely would.

On Nov. 2, we hope Iowa City residents will speak their minds on the fee. The council has provided a platform for concerned residents, a place in which their voices can be heard. Weather emergencies are nothing to mess around with, and city officials need to be able to clean up the best they can.

But in lieu of the towing ordinance enacted in July, an increase that would send one-time violators’ cars to the impoundment lot is unnecessary.