Overstaying a downtown Charleston parking meter could soon cost more.

City Council’s Traffic and Transportation Committee took up “adjustments to parking citations and fines” at its Nov. 10 meeting, according to the agenda. Committee Chair Mike Seekings, who represents District 8, led the discussion.

Seekings said Charleston’s fines are not in line with nearby cities, and that rising violations show the current fines are not discouraging repeat offenses, ABC News 4 reported.

Charleston charges $14 for a meter violation, $25 for overtime parking in a residential district, $45 for parking at a fire hydrant and $100 for parking in a disabled space without a placard, the station reported.

A comparison chart in the committee’s agenda packet shows Columbia charging $25 for a meter violation, $25 for residential overtime, $500 at a hydrant and $500 for a disabled space without a placard. Savannah, Ga., charges $30, $50, $75 and $150. The chart also lists Greenville, at $5 for a meter violation, along with Wilmington, N.C., and Virginia Beach, Va.

Seekings said he is focused on meter overtime, overtime in residential parking districts and illegal parking in bus stops.

“We’ve looked at sort of the number of violations, particularly in the meters, which continue to go up, which tells us we’re really not incentivizing people to get out of there on time,” he told ABC News 4. Neither the station nor the agenda gave violation counts.

He said residents who pay for parking decals should get priority for spaces near their homes, noting that the number of decals is about equal to the number of spaces in those districts. He also said fine revenue helps pay for police, fire and other city services.

“We struggle every day to make sure that we’ve got a balanced budget. This helps us do it, in a way that really is fair, in a way that identifies people who aren’t playing by the rules,” Seekings said.

No new rates have been set. Seekings plans to bring the issue to the next City Council meeting and hopes new fines take effect Jan. 1, the station reported.

The discussion comes less than a month after the city announced Oct. 15 that it would move peninsula on-street parking to ParkMobile and gradually remove its meters.