A while back, I posted a thread about a parking ticket that I wanted to fight:
while not quite the same situation as yours, I did get an unfavorable final determination from the hearing officer, but I felt so strongly that I appealed.
Everyone thought it was fruitless, but I paid the $70 to appeal. On the day of my appeal here were lots of people in court with parking tickets. I can’t remember how any of those turned out. When my turn came, the attorney for the city immediately said they wanted to drop the ticket because it was a “viaduct case”. (obviously the city had been challenged before) I asked the judge for the $70 for filing the appeal and he granted me that too!
I can’t tell you how pleased I was that I paid nothing. In my case it was worth fighting this battle. What bugs me is that there seems to have been some precedent for “viaduct” cases and I had to spend all that time to fight a ticket that I shouldn’t have gotten in the first place, by the city’s own admission. Recently, the city finally put up “no parking” signs under the viaduct.
I’m not sure $50 is worth it unless you have more time than money. I’m pretty sure you can still file an appeal, but you only have 30 days after the final determination to do that.
Periodically, the city holds an “amnesty” where you don’t have to pay the late fees on outstanding tickets. You might just try living with the ticket until the next one rolls around. I think you have to get three tickets before you get “the boot”.