Strapped for cash, the city of Omaha continues to search for revenue streams. The City Council will hear a proposal Tuesday for charging a late fee for unpaid parking tickets. The city says 40 percent of tickets go unpaid.

A ticket now runs $16, the late fee would be $20, but there seems to be mixed feelings about what it would attain.

Councilwoman Jean Stothert says if it's compliance the city is after, a penalty is not the way. "Maybe we could be working with Douglas County and if people have unpaid tickets, once a year when they go to register their car they couldn't register their car until they paid their tickets.”

If it's revenue the city is after, Councilman Ben Gray says the fee is just change. "It wouldn't be anywhere near what we need to be as a city. It would probably be somewhere under a million dollars and that's like putting a Band-Aid on a cancer patient. I think we need significantly more revenue than that."

Mayor Suttle says the city has to find a way to fund the police and fire pensions. A task force report came up with three ways, a half-cent sales tax increase, a property tax hike or a garbage fee and thus he is trying to get a $10 garbage collection fee on the November ballot.

"The city does need a third, strong, stable stream and we need to decide what that's going to be," said the mayor. "The city needs to decide how do you come up with your share and so I’m just rolling out all of the recommendations to the public and the garbage fee is one of them.”

Stothert doesn't see that being an option either. "The taxpayer needs to be aware that for the 2011 budget, at least that budget will be approved in September and so by putting the proposed garbage collection fee on the ballot in November really isn't going to help the 2011 budget at all."

With the bills coming in, Gray says the city has some real challenges ahead and it needs a serious revenue source to draw form.

“We need a revenue source and we need a significant revenue source. The sales tax is not going to happen in Lincoln, the garbage fee is If we do put it before the voters. I don't know if there is enough support on the council for it, but we'll see what taxpayers have to say."

The mayor says he's in favor of the late fee for unpaid tickets and adds allowing people not to pay and not be penalized sends the wrong message.

The proposed fee for garbage collection still needs to go before the City Council. It's not on Tuesday's agenda.