By XAVIER SMERDON
MORE than 90,000 Brimbank residents had the sheriff on their heels last year, exclusive figures obtained by Star reveal.
Almost one in two residents in Brimbank, a staggering 91,827 people, received a warrant from the sheriff’s office for unpaid fines in the last financial year.
The unpaid fines include parking, speeding, tolls and public transport fines.
The number was the second-highest across the north-western suburbs, coming in behind Hume, which saw 95,534 people added to the sheriff’s list.
In Whittlesea 39,055 warrants were issued while there were 30,557 in Maribyrnong, 29,363 in Hobsons Bay and 9477 in Mitchell.
People that ignore warrants could eventually have their car or even their house confiscated and sold at auction.
As a worst case scenario residents could face jail time if they continue to flaunt the system.
A Department of Justice Spokesperson said the number of warrants issued had risen by 30 per cent over the 2009-’10 financial year.
“Ignoring your fines does not make them go away,” the spokesperson said.
“There are approximately 190 sheriff’s officers in Victoria routinely contacting offenders at their homes/business or taking part in a range of enforcement activities which can include multi-agency operations.
“The majority of fines issued in Victoria are paid promptly but a minority of the community breach court orders and do not pay their fines.”
The spokesperson said in Victoria over the last year more than $5.3 million worth of warrants were cleared and around 85 per cent of people took action to clear their warrants after being sanctioned with registration non-renewal.
