East Lansing residents may find parking in the city a bit more expensive after the East Lansing City Council votes to change parking fines Tuesday.

Gary Murphy, the city’s finance director, said he will recommend to the council that the parking fines for meters and reserved parking or no parking spots go up $5.

“Most tickets are $20 now, they are recommending $25, if it is an expired meter, which is $10, it will go up to $15,” he said. “The big difference is if you park in a handicap spot, which is now $55, we are recommending those go up to $100.”

Murphy said the increase in fines was in the 2001-02 city budget, which was adopted last month.

There will be a public hearing on raising the fines during the council meeting Tuesday.

He said the next step is to change the ordinance, which he expects the council to do Tuesday.

Councilmember Sam Singh said he will support the changing of the ordinance, which would go into effect July 1.

“We are just keeping consistent with the university’s move to raise fines,” he said. “If we don’t, we see a shift of problems from campus to downtown.”

The MSU Board of Trustees voted in April to raise parking fines $5 for parking in illegal spots and meters on campus and from $50 to $100 for parking in spots reserved for people with disabilities. The new fines begin July 1.

Singh said he doesn’t expect a lot of discussion on the topic from the council.

“This is dealing with people violating the law,” he said. “I don’t think there is going to be much sympathy for those breaking the rules and regulations.”

Councilmember Beverly Baten agrees raising the fines is something the council needs to do.

“This is just to keep up with the university,” she said. “We are still less than anyone else; people just think of how much it costs to park in East Lansing.”