NPR News

What Do Jerry Brown, Steve Jobs And Kamala Harris Have In Common?

By NPR Staff

Published February 25, 2016 at 5:45 PM EST

A row of parking meters lines O'Farrell Street in San Francisco. The city issues 1.5 million tickets a year.

If you got a parking ticket in the city of San Francisco between 1995 and 2012, you may be owed some money.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency says it has identified a total of $6.1 million in overpayments — in other words, vehicle owners who sent the government too much money — for some 200,000 tickets.

San Francisco issues 1.5 million tickets a year, Paul Rose, a spokesman with SFMTA, tells NPR's Robert Siegel.

From now until March 3, people can get their money back. After that, the government will keep the money.

A quick glance at the list reveals that parking citations strike everyone, no matter how rich or powerful.

Among the notable parking scofflaws now owed money:

Kamala D. Harris, California state attorney general and candidate for U.S. Senate: $60

Steve P. Jobs, Apple co-founder (who died in 2011): $174

Peter Thiel, investor and PayPal co-founder: $170

Edmund G. Brown Jr., aka Jerry Brown, governor of California: $33

NPR received the following response from Brown's office: "Thanks for the email. Unfortunately, Gov. Brown isn't available today, but we'll certainly be checking on the $33 he's owed."

Travis Kalanick, CEO of ride-hailing company Uber: $510

The company told NPR the parking citations must be old: These days, Kalanick avoids parking altogether — he takes an Uber.