I thought about parking tickets in a completely different way. Let me explain:
I parked in the Rec lot, which charged $.75/hour, and if you got caught without paying it was a $7.50 ticket. (please note: these were the costs when I was there, I'm sure they have inflated now.)
I never paid the $.75 unless I saw DPS there walking around writing tix. I calculated my entire total of parking tickets for the year, which was $172.50. I also estimated my entire time parking in that lot for the year, and if I had paid the 75 cents/hour to park every hour I was there, it would have cost ~$384.00.
So, basically, I paid $172.50 to park in that lot. So, you take $384 - $172.50 = $211.50.
All that being said, I actually saved myself $211.50 by not paying the hourly rate. If you are smart about it, you can actually save yourself by taking the risk and getting a parking ticket.