The Shorewood Budget & Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the village reject the current proposals for a mobile paid-parking system and conduct expanded public outreach before restarting the procurement process. The committee instructed staff to begin public engagement this year, delay reissuing a request for proposals until mid-2026, and target January 2027 as a potential implementation date if the village later chooses a vendor.

The committee’s recommendation, made by a trustee during the meeting, asked that outreach solicit community feedback on days, hours, hourly rates, transaction fees and time limits and to monitor motorist behavior and financial performance if the program moves forward. The committee also directed staff to allow a buffer for two construction projects — North Oakland Avenue and Lake Drive — that the village expects will change local parking dynamics.

Why it matters: Committee members and staff said they want more local input before changing on-street parking rules and before committing to a vendor and implementation date. Staff warned that added paid parking would increase citation workload and that the village should first explore procedural and technological changes to citation processing so enforcement and office staff can handle additional demand.

Staff told the committee that, using baseline assumptions and a 400-space scenario, the program could generate roughly 8,000 additional citations a year, about a 50% increase over current citation volumes. That estimate drove discussion about how many additional staff hours or outsourcing the village would need for citation processing, collection and customer inquiries. Committee members asked staff to review whether the village’s current AIMS citation/permit software could support mailed citations or other automated processing before a new procurement.

The committee’s recommendation contains a schedule and next steps: restart the mobile-payment procurement in mid-2026, make the RFP more prescriptive based on public input, select a vendor thereafter, and aim for a January 2027 implementation window for on-street and designated municipal-lot spaces in business districts identified in the motion. If the committee or board later directs an RFP, staff said it would be tailored to the information learned during outreach and the construction schedule.

Discussion versus decision: The committee’s vote was a recommendation to the full village board, not a final vendor selection. The committee formally voted to forward its recommendation and to reject the current proposals; it did not award any contract. The committee also asked staff to develop a public-survey instrument and return with findings to inform future procurement steps.

Next steps: Staff will draft outreach questions and return to the committee and then the full board in spring 2026 with public input and a recommended RFP scope if the board wishes to proceed.