Waukegan, Illinois police are scanning the parking lots of repair shops with an eye toward ticketing wrecked vehicles for failure to stay current with the municipal car tax. Every year, motorists with cars registered to a Waukegan address must pay the city $40 for a sticker displayed in the lower right-hand corner of the windshield. Other Illinois cities, including Chicago, issue similar stickers.

At the Ripley Automotive repair shop, six cars were among the 3016 ticketed last month as part of a city effort to triple citation revenue. Waukegan raised $150,800 last month -- up from $52,800 in June last year. Officers have also been sweeping through the driveways of private homes looking for potential targets.

One ticket victim, Jonathon Turley, received a ticket at home at at the repair lot. He had left his car on the lot while waiting on his insurance company to total the vehicle, the Associated Press reported. He had no intention of either maintaining the vehicle's registration or ever driving it again.

"It's obviously not drivable," Turley told AP. "I can't believe the police would stoop so low. It goes to the stereotype of cops writing tickets to meet quotas."

Police defend their actions by asserting they have the authority to ticket vehicles on private property.