Oakland, California City Auditor Roland Smith says the law requires the city to refund 1400 parking tickets issued by overzealous meter maids on a holiday. Lincoln's Birthday fell on a Sunday this year and was observed as a city holiday on Monday, February 13. Meter maids began dropping $48 tickets for blocking street sweeping operations. There were no street sweepers that day. City parking ticket officials don't want to return the $63,000 in fines collected on the holiday.

"Clearly the people who received a citation should be reimbursed by the city," Smith spokesman Jim McPheely told KCBS-TV. "That's our position and it was initially the position of the city attorney's office. But they have since modified the position saying that the parking authority people were not noticed in a timely fashion but our position is we did."

The city council may need to vote on whether to force the refund for the improper tickets.