WAUKESHA COUNTY, Wis. — With summer right around the corner, more people are out enjoying the outdoors. 


What You Need To Know

  • Waukesha County parks no longer have staffing to pay fees on site

  • The license plate readers are to help with staffing shortages and user compliance

  • If you fail to comply, you’ll be mailed a violation within five days

  • The overall cost for the new technology is near $80,000

Before you head out to the Waukesha County parks and lakes, make sure you understand their parking rules and regulations.

Waukesha County Park System Manager Rebecca Mattano said since the inception of the park system there’s been a parking fee. If you don’t have an annual pass, typically you’d purchase one when entering the park from an attendant, but that’s not the case anymore.

“We’re not going to staff the hut,” said Mattano. “People are going online to pay the fees and handle the permit process.”

To monitor vehicles passing by, Mattano said the county invested in license plate readers at eight of the park entrances.

“We want to make sure we’re accurately capturing people,” said Mattano. “We’re also looking at how long people are in the parks.”

If you fail to comply, you’ll be mailed a violation within five days.

“If you don’t pay this we’ll reserve the right to send you to a municipal violation,” said Mattano.

She says the county is implanting this new system for several reasons—one is staffing shortages.

“We had to reprioritize where those bodies go,” said Mattano. “Are they sitting in a hut collecting fees when we can automate that process or are they out in the parks making sure the trash is picked up, the lawn is mowed.”

She said between annual and daily passes the county generates nearly $1 million each year. That doesn’t include the 20% of users that don’t pay the fee. Mattano says filling the gaps of non-compliance users is another reason for the cameras.

Frequent park goer, Daniel Mendez doesn’t mind the fee. He enjoys taking his grandchildren to the parks to swim and play on the playground.

“You can only do the honor system for so long before people take advantage of that,” said Mendez. “I think not taking advantage of that and paying for your service is the right thing to do.”

Mattano said the overall cost for the new technology is near $80,000. All of the money generated from parking fees goes directly back into the park system to keep them beautiful for visitors.