The way Ouray Mayor Greg Nelson tells the story — relayed to him by a shop owner — the tourist visiting Ouray from a big city shrugged off the parking ticket he had received here. It was no big deal — the fine cost him less than a hour’s worth of parking back at home.

The city’s schedule of fines for traffic and other municipal offenses hasn’t changed since 2015. Leave your vehicle in a place where it shouldn’t be parked and you could find a 815 ticket on your windshield when you re...