County proposes parking‑code rewrite and ParkMobile contract to modernize campus parking

County parking staff briefed commissioners on July 22 with a proposed overhaul of Spokane County’s parking code, public‑parking fee schedule and enforcement tools and asked the board to approve a ParkMobile contract (via an Omnia cooperative agreement) and to adopt updated code and a resolution listing payable lots and fees. Staff said the county’s parking rules date to about 2013 and currently rely on coin meters, plastic permits and limited enforcement hours. The county already has AIM license‑plate recognition software installed for employee permits and parking‑enforcement vehicles; staff proposed expanding license‑plate enforcement to public parking to allow pay‑by‑plate and to decommission window permits. Staff recommended replacing meters with kiosks and mobile payment (ParkMobile), allowing payment by app, web, text and credit card, and retaining a coin option at kiosks for the small number of customers who prefer it. On rates, staff proposed raising public parking fees and citation amounts to align with the City of Spokane and nearby private operators to reduce incentives to risk unpaid parking. The proposal does not change employee lease parking rates. Staff estimated that applying the proposed citation schedule to 2024 citation volumes would roughly double citation revenue (an estimated change from approximately $47,640 to a higher amount under new rates, per packet example) and move parking toward greater cost recovery; staff said unmet meter repairs and many unrecorded unpaid parking events represent missed revenue today. Staff recommended approving a ParkMobile contract using the Omnia cooperative purchasing agreement (which the county can join to obtain a reduced per‑transaction fee), adopting a revised Title 46, chapter 46.48 county parking code, and passing a resolution to list public parking lots and the new rate table so updates can happen by resolution rather than code amendment. Staff said they will place the ParkMobile contract and code change on the Aug. 19 consent agenda.