Most drivers with state disability parking placards will pay at parking meters starting January 1st. The new law will require anyone with a blue or red placard to start inserting coins at meters in Illinois. Mary Riseling is with the Illinois Secretary of State's Office. She says the change means an increase in revenue for cities with metered parking:
“With the recertifications we have been doing and based upon the criteria that the General Assembly set for us, only about 10-percent of the individuals with placards qualify for meter-exempt parking. The other 90-percent are going to have those blue placards and they are going to pay for parking effective January 1,” Riseling says.
Riseling says there are about 650,000 placard holders in the state. She says people with yellow and gray striped placards will qualify for the meter exemption. Riseling says placard-holders should visit their doctor's office to get re-certified on their placards. She says that allows the Secretary of State's Office to send them a new placard good through 2018.