First, t he Legislature of Washington regulates the amounts of fees and fines for all infractions of the law. Your local peace officer or court employee has no control over the amounts, except the judge who can use discrectionary powers within a range allowable. Thirdly, it is costly to try to collect fees and fines from people who don't want to or won't pay them. Certainly it is very expensive to maintain prisoners in jail and our jail has population limits. It is harder still to get people to work off fines in a community service program as well as pay for supervising personnel.
Crime is a costly, and counter productive problem every community faces.
It uses resources much better used for other programs and damages the quality of life for citizens in the community. If you come up with some great ideas, let the City know. The contested hearing will be heard by the court without a jury. The city must prove your guilt by a preponderance of the evidence and may rely just on the officer's report. If the court finds you guilty, you may be required to pay a monetary penalty and additional court costs.