TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Bruce Moe, Finance Director
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of Increasing the Duration of Free Parking During the Holiday Season From Three Weeks to Four Weeks (Finance Director Moe).
DISCUSS AND PROVIDE DIRECTION
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council discuss and provide direction regarding increasing by one week the existing City Council policy of providing three weeks of free parking (bagging the parking meters) during the holiday season. Staff further recommends that the time period be reviewed annually during the budget process to evaluate the Parking Fund status and ability to absorb the costs.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The approximate weekly cost of bagging the parking meters is $43,000 (accounted for in the Parking Fund). Thus, the existing policy of three weeks of bagging meters costs the City $129,000; four weeks would cost $172,000. The FY 2017-2018 budget includes an allowance for the existing policy of bagging for three weeks. Increasing the holiday bagging by one week will likely result in the Parking Fund underperforming revenue estimates for the full year due to the loss of the additional estimated $43,000. Since 2011 (including the planned bagging for 2017), the City has subsidized parking through the holiday bagging program by an estimated $946,000.
The Parking Fund is the funding mechanism for City parking operations. Revenues, mainly derived from parking meter collections, generate enough to cover operations and debt service on the Metlox structure and town square. However, the revenues are insufficient for any significant maintenance or capital improvement projects.
The unfunded CIP list includes $13.35 million in projects such as $100,000 for development of a downtown parking facility capital investment plan, $250,000 for parking technology occupa...
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