Parking Commissioner William Letendre is asking that the council amend the ordinance governing meter fees to allow for the increases.
A volunteer cleans parking meters in Northampton.NORTHAMPTON – The City Council will get its first look at a proposal to raise the fees at city parking meters by 50 percent or more when it meets Thursday.
Parking Commissioner William Letendre is asking that the council amend the ordinance governing meter fees to allow for the increases. Under his proposal, the cost for parking at one-hour meters, most of which are on Main Street, would jump from $.50 to $.75 an hour. Two-hour meters would rise at the same rate. The ten-hour meters in the city’s long-term lots would increase from $.15-$.25 cents an hour and $.25-$.50 cents an hour.
Letendre said Wednesday that the proposed rate increase is simply a matter of economics. The money from parking meters goes into the Parking Meter Reserve Fund, which is used to pay for a variety of costs, from salaries to maintenance of the parking garage. Because that fund is generally dedicated to the city’s parking needs, Mayor Mary Clare Higgins has tapped it in recent years to pay for some police salaries and equipment and some clerical salaries pertaining to the downtown parking area.
“It’s about revenue,” Letendre said. “We need to increase the revenue stream without going crazy.”
Currently, the city reaps about $1 million a year from parking fees, by Letendre’s estimate. Assuming the demand for parking spaces does not decrease because of the rate hikes, that amount could rise by $.5 million, although Letendre said that goal is optimistic.
“It’s a good goal to set, but I doubt that we’ll get that much,” he said.
Letendre doubled the rate for the Main Street meters from $25-$.50 cents an hour about eight years ago and said the demand for parking did not change at all as a result. He hopes the increases will have the added benefit of encouraging more use of the John E. Gare Municipal Garage.
“There are 100 to 150 empty spaces every day, and that’s just silly because it’s the best place to park in the city,” he said.
The council will likely refer the ordinance to the Transportation and Parking Commission and the Ordinance Committee for review before it comes back before it for a vote.