CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — People visiting Charleston should make sure they feed the parking meter.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reports that (http://bit.ly/1AglyqU ) the number of parking tickets issued last year was up sharply because of tighter enforcement.

City finance director Steve Bedard says officers issued 171,000 parking tickets last year, with fines totaling $3.4 million. That's almost 25,000 more tickets than were issued the previous year.

A review shows that Savannah, Georgia, issued fewer tickets than either Charleston or Columbia but collected more in fines. In Savannah, 134,000 tickets were issued last year with fines of $3.6 million.

In Columbia, 144,000 tickets were issued but fines were only $2 million.

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