Evanston residents will begin paying $5 more for parking fines starting next month.

As part of the city’s efforts to increase revenue amid uncertainty over state funding cuts, aldermen unanimously approved fee hikes to fines on violations such as parking without a permit in city-owned lots or parking within 15 feet of a fire hydrant. Late fees for such fines will also increase by $5.

Effective Oct. 1, if individuals are fined for parking illegally on a snow route, they will be charged $60 instead of the previous fee of $55. There will be no fee increases for certain parking infractions under state law.

At their meeting last week, aldermen approved a similar fee hike increasing ambulance fees by $150 for Evanston residents and $200 for non-residents.

Two weeks after the state started its fiscal year without a budget, city manager Wally Bobkiewicz directed his staff in July to plan for budget cuts. He also proposed a slew of fee increases and a furlough day, which the council will consider in upcoming months of budget negotiations.

Bobkiewicz told The Daily last week that if the state doesn’t approve a budget until the end of the city’s fiscal year on Dec. 31, Evanston will have at least dodged the consequences of budget cuts for 2015.

“At some point this house of cards has to fall,” Bobkiewicz said. “It’s not a matter of will it fall; it’s a matter of when it will fall.”

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