TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Bruce Moe, Acting Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of Bagging of City Parking Meters During the Holiday Season to Encourage Local Shopping (Finance Director Moe).
APPROVE
Line
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council: a) approve a three-week waiver of fees at all City parking meters, excluding the shared State Pier and El Porto (L.A. County) beach parking lots, from Wednesday, December 3, 2014, through Wednesday, December 24, 2014; and b) approve on-going meter bagging in future years for a three-week time frame during the holidays.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Based on existing parking meter rates, the estimated revenue loss to the City's Parking Fund for the recommended three-week period will be approximately $129,000 ($43,000 per week). This is the amount and time frame that was accommodated in the fiscal year 2014-2015 budget. If City Council authorizes a longer waiver period, Parking Fund revenues may underperform the budget for the year.
While the bagging of meters is a popular program with the residents and businesses, it is difficult to determine any corresponding financial benefit for the City since sales tax statistics are reported to the City on a quarterly (12 week) basis. However, additional sales of $12.9 million would need to be recorded in that time frame for the City to break even with the meter bagging costs.
BACKGROUND:
Covering the parking meters for the holidays has been a long-standing tradition in the City. The practice was not followed in 2009 and 2010 for financial reasons, but did resume in 2011 for a two-week period. For 2012, the City Council approved a four-week waiver, which was followed by a three week waiver for 2013.
DISCUSSION:
Staff is recommending a three-week waiver for this upcoming holiday season, consistent with 2013 for which City Council approved a three-week period. This time frame is accommodated in the FY 2014-2015 budget. During the waiver period, parking is permitted at meters for up to the maximum posted hours (for example, downtown street parking has a 2-hour maximum). While parking is free for that duration, those exceeding the posted maximum are subject to citation. Further, citations for other violations will continue to be issued as warranted (wheel curbing, street sweeping, etc.).
Staff further recommends that a three week meter bagging period be approved on an on-going basis for future years (unless otherwise modified by the City Council). The period would be scheduled annually around the three weeks leading up to Christmas (typically December 3rd to 24th but subject to adjustment based on the days of the week for staff implementation purposes). This schedule will also accommodate Chanukah shopping through 2017. Approving this on-going waiver will eliminate annual City Council approval, and allow local businesses to include this information in marketing and promotional materials well in advance of the holidays.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that the City Council: a) approve a three-week waiver of fees at all City parking meters, excluding the shared State Pier and El Porto (L.A. County) beach parking lots, from Wednesday, December 3, 2014, through Wednesday, December 24, 2014; and b) approve on-going meter bagging in future years for a three-week time frame during the holidays.