Flagstaff council weighs ParkFlag rate hike to fund downtown maintenance, DBA contract

Flagstaff City Council members and staff spent an extended portion of a retreat discussing a plan to raise downtown parking rates to fund contracted “enhanced services” downtown and to seed an IGA with the Flagstaff Downtown Business Improvement and Revitalization District (FDBIRD), commonly called the DBA.

The proposal grew from a DBA request for roughly $500,000 a year to pay a third-party vendor to provide more frequent restroom maintenance, graffiti removal, sidewalk and alley snow clearing, pressure washing, coordinated trash service and other downtown beautification tasks. David McIntyre, community investment director, told the council the city could reach the $500,000 target through a combination of revenue shifts and a ParkFlag rate increase, and he outlined three price options that staff modeled.

Why it matters: downtown business and tourism leaders say visible maintenance and consistent service will protect visitor experience and local commerce; council members said they want visible improvements in place before asking users to pay more. Staff also warned that existing ParkFlag revenue rules and credit-card fees would affect net proceeds.

Staff presentation and revenue options David McIntyre advised council that ParkFlag has about $1.8 million in the lockbox now and that parking revenues before COVID were closer to $1.2–$1.4 million annually. McIntyre said a 20% portion of any rate increase would be placed into the lockbox to fund future parking facilities, while 75% of the remaining incremental revenue could be dedicated to the DBA contract and 25% to ParkFlag operations and rising costs. McIntyre summarized: “20% would go to the lockbox.”

Using 2024 activity as the baseline, staff showed three scenarios: - A 50¢ per hour increase across rates would provide an estimated $294,000 annually to the DBA for contracted services. - A 75¢ per hour increase would provide roughly $440,000 annually to the DBA. - A variable option (50¢ Monday–Thursday; 75¢ Friday–Sunday) would generate about $380,000 for the DBA under the same assumptions.

Staff cautioned that ParkFlag’s average transaction is low (about $2.08 per hour), so per-transaction credit-card fees—budgeted at 8–11%—consume a substantial share of gross revenue. McIntyre also noted a possible technical change: kiosks currently do not accept coins, and an incremental rate structure could require equipment or operational updates.

DBA and business community views Hunter Abare, director of the Downtown Business Association (DBA), told council the board and downtown business owners strongly support investing in maintenance now so Flagstaff “looks great” when visitation rebounds. John VanLandingham, chairman of the FDBIRD, urged council not to be “afraid of pricing it at a price that makes sense,” framing paid parking as a convenience purchase and pointing to free peripheral parking and transit as alternatives.

Council comments and next steps Council members expressed broad interest in the concept and several said they would consider a higher increase than the staff’s baseline if the business community supports it. Staff said the next procedural steps would include a detailed rate analysis by finance, a required 60-day public notice for a fee change, an amendment to the parking ordinance to expand the definition of benefits to the parking district, and negotiating an IGA with FDBIRD so the DBA could execute a third-party contract. McIntyre suggested using roughly $300,000 of one-time ParkFlag funds to seed the initial contract so enhanced services can start before a rate increase takes effect.

Council asked staff to return with a formal rate-analysis report and a draft IGA if there is general support. No formal motion or vote was recorded at the retreat; staff characterized the discussion as a request to proceed with more detailed analysis and community outreach.

Ending: Staff will prepare a full rate analysis and draft IGA for council review, and continue outreach to downtown businesses and DBA leaders to test business support and messaging.