Photo by maxedaperture.

Drivers owe the District of Columbia over $245 million in unpaid parking tickets. The city would really like to get some of that money back, naturally. So beginning August 1, the city’s Department of Motor Vehicles will be suspending penalties on outstanding tickets to encourage people to pay up.

The program, which is expected to net the city $6.3 million, was announced by Mayor Vince Gray this morning. “In the current economic environment, we expect that many customers will take advantage of this opportunity to clear their debts to DMV at a lower cost — producing revenue results for the District,” Gray said.

Overdue fees will be waived for all open parking tickets, citations for moving violations and photo-enforcement tickets issued before January 1, 2010. The program will end on January 27, 2012 — the city’s hoping it is as successful as the city’s income tax amnesty program, which recouped over $20 million in back taxes.