Hartford Parking Authority seeks to retain revenue to self-fund major garage repairs; council questions enforcement pause

Jill Turlo, CEO of the Hartford Parking Authority, told the Operations Management Budget and Government Accountability Committee that the authority proposed retaining greater operating revenue this year so it can self-fund phase 1 repairs to the Main and Trumbull (MAC) Garage and the library parking deck.

"The MAC Garage ... is about a $52,000,000 project if done in phases," said Kaye Almanai, HPA director of strategic growth and finance, summarizing an on-call engineering firm's condition report and the authority's estimate for phased repairs. The authority described rising emergency repair costs and said deferred maintenance has driven the need for phased capital work.

Why it matters: the MAC Garage is a major downtown parking asset (the HPA described it as a more-than-900-space garage). Significant capital needs at city parking structures can affect downtown access, event parking, city revenues and the general fund if repairs are advanced as a city capital project.

Turlo outlined the HPA's operations and community work: the HPA manages 13 assets (garages and lots), on-street metered parking, residential permit programs and valet services. The HPA reported 13 full-time employees, eight part-time employees and one contractor; the authority said enforcement and several surface-lot operations are run by a third-party operator, Reimagined Parking, which HPA said employs approximately 55% Hartford residents in its local staffing.

Turlo and Almanai described the authority's proposed budget strategy: rather than returning $2,283,000 to the general fund (the mayor's recommended amount reflected in city documents), the HPA asked to retain more revenue and return $877,000 while using a portion of retained funds with capital reserves to begin phase 1 work on the MAC Garage and the library deck. They cited specific drivers including escalating upkeep, fleet replacement needs and lease/office relocation expenses when the authority's 10-year lease ends in 2026.

On the library parking deck, the HPA said an earlier estimate of $427,000 from last year's condition report rose to about $1.1 million after the state Department of Transportation declined a grant for the deck's bridge work on the grounds that the structure primarily serves parking rather than motor-vehicle traffic. The HPA said that denial shifted the cost burden.

Turlo described community outreach initiatives and operational changes: a pilot, in-person residential parking permit (RPP) outreach on Irving Street; improved bilingual project notices and mailers for sanitation projects; an off-street parking validation program for downtown; installation of new parking spaces for the Boys & Girls Club on Chandler Street including an ADA space; and plans to manage citywide EV charging infrastructure in coordination with capital projects. The HPA also said it would present a city parks parking enforcement ordinance to council next month to allow enforcement of parking rules in parks and to prevent unauthorized parking on grass and green spaces.

During the committee's question period, Councilman Mitchum raised a year-long pause in enforcement of parking violations in bike lanes that began after constituent complaints and council outreach. Turlo confirmed there was a hold on enforcement to allow review and discussion. The committee transcript records back-and-forth among members about how that pause was authorized and for how long; Mayor Vincent and Councilwoman Rosado noted the pause followed meetings with affected businesses and that a resolution related to the matter is currently in committee. The chair asked committee members to take detailed discussion of the enforcement pause to the appropriate committee where the related resolution is under consideration.

The presentation ended following additional questions; HPA officials said they would continue outreach, finalize the proposed capital funding approach and work with the mayor's office and council on options to address the garage and deck repairs.

Ending: the HPA asked the committee to consider its alternative budget strategy so the authority could begin phased capital repairs; council members asked follow-up questions about enforcement practice, outreach and the timeline for moving an ordinance and related resolutions through committee.