Cities and counties across the U.S. increasingly rely on fines and fees to balance their budgets. However, fines and fees disproportionally fall on low-income residents who often are strained to pay. Therefore, local governments must become savvier about how they manage fines and fees. This paper contends that a pricing strategy called “segmented pricing” actually increases the revenues local governments can raise from fines and fees while also reducing the hardships that fines and fees can place on low-income citizens. The essence of segmented pricing is to charge the citizen the price they can afford—no more, no less. For more on segmented pricing, including a video explanation and a chance to participate in a pilot visit this page.
- Publication date: January 2022
- Authors: Jean-Pierre Dubé, Bryan Glenn, and Shayne Kavanagh