Downtown Parking Fee Increase

(Graphic courtesy of Carol Mendel Maps)

[ Excerpt from SBN-P article 11/16/05 By JOSHUA MOLINA ]


... In a unanimous 3-0 vote, the city's three-member finance committee on Tuesday gave its approval to raise the parking rates from $1 to $1.50 every hour, but keep the first 75 minutes free.

The city needs to raise $1.8 million annually for the next 10 years to pay for parking lot improvements, which include painting, replacing staircases, upgrading elevators and other maintenance work.

Of the $1.8 million, $500,000 will go toward building up reserves for the downtown lots.

Marshall Rose, chairman of the Downtown Parking Committee, said a fee increase of some type is necessary and that the proposed 50 cents is the least painful option for the businesses in the downtown area.

Keeping the first 75 minutes free for motorists will give people enough time to run their downtown errands or grab a meal. And for the long-term fiscal health of the downtown parking lots, a rate increase is needed, he said.

"It's fiscally irresponsible not do this," Mr. Rose said. "We should have done this five years ago."

... Separate from the parking rate talks, the city is also looking for new sources of revenue for mass transit. Councilman Das Williams, a member of the finance committee, said at Tuesday's meeting that even though he wants to increase funding for buses, he doesn't expect people who park downtown to shoulder the extra costs.

But he does hope the city can find money to improve pickup times at bus stops -- a move that he said would encourage more people to ride the bus, ultimately easing traffic congestion.

"There isn't an issue more on people's minds in this election than traffic," Mr. Williams said...


City prepares to raise downtown parking fee