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City staff recommend higher parking hourly and monthly rates; propose data-driven approach
Summary
City parking staff proposed raising hourly and monthly garage rates (first hour free; proposed $2/hour with $10 daily max; monthly from $72 to $80) and stressed the recommendation is not final. Council discussed reinvesting parking revenue for maintenance.
Bill Foster, speaking for the city’s parking operations, outlined a proposal to adjust downtown parking rates to reflect demand and recent investments in real-time data collection.
The most notable proposal would keep the first hour free, raise transient hourly pricing to $2 per hour and set a daily maximum of $10. Staff proposed raising the standard monthly permit from $72 to $80 and suggested increasing event parking from $5 to $10. Foster described the recommendation as a proposal for council discussion, not a final decision: “This is just a recommendation. So, for my media friends, Nothing's being decided today.”
The nut graf: staff said new parking equipment and data analytics allow better management of monthly permits and transient occupancy; the proposal aims to support downtown access while keeping Greenville’s rates competitive with peer cities.
Foster presented utilization and revenue-management data: the city operates 10 garages and five lots; staff reported approximately 6,165 parking spaces and said monthly permit sales rose from about 6,153 to about 7,218 after the new equipment. Foster said he can oversell monthly permits because average monthly occupancy on peak days was roughly 53–63 percent in many garages, leaving transient capacity during off-peak days.
Council members asked for additional data and emphasized conditions they want attached to any rate increases. Council members and the mayor stressed that any additional parking revenue should be reinvested in upkeep and maintenance of parking structures rather than redirected to unrelated general-fund uses. One council member pressed staff to provide the percent of hourly users who park for less than two hours; Foster provided annual totals for transactions and agreed to follow up with the percentage breakdown on request.
Foster compared proposed new rates with peer cities and said Greenville would remain a “loss leader” on price even after the adjustments. He recommended three areas for change: transient (daily) rates, monthly permit rates and event rates, and left room to refine the proposal — for example, by keeping two hours free in garages to mirror on-street parking that the council has historically wanted to protect for businesses.
Ending: Foster said staff will return with follow-up analyses and that no formal vote would occur at the work session. Council asked staff to model reinvestment of parking revenue into garage upkeep and to supply additional occupancy and duration data before any vote.
