A state law requiring city parking meters to be inspected and certified every three years has been bringing grief to Pennsylvania cities dependent upon the steady flow of ticket and meter revenue. The city of Wilkes-Barre has been using parking meters since the 30's (the first parking meter in the city is pictured) to provide a steady stream of revenue that has now grown to $5,000 a day.

Courts recently began dismissing tickets throughout the state for any motorist who ask in court for a copy of the certification that a city could not produce. This forced Wilkes-Barre to suspend its ticketing program. On Friday, the last of 753 meters was certified by the state, allowing the city to resume its ticket program on Monday. Pending tickets can still be challenged in court.

"We could potentially lose a considerable amount of money, which is frustrating when we're trying to rebuild the city," Mayor Tom Leighton told the Citizen's Voice newspaper which has been tracking the story closely. Hundreds of thousands of meters remain to be inspected statewide by Pennsylvania's twelve-man inspection team.

"On behalf of the City of Wilkes-Barre, I want to thank Gov. Ed Rendell from taking time out of his very busy schedule to realize the seriousness of this," Leighton said.