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City staff present revised parking-fund budget; council questions Gateway merchant fees and dynamic signage
Summary
City parking staff outlined a revised parking fund budget tied to a new parking authority position, continued contracts with a private operator, and rising merchant-service fees. Councilors pressed staff on Gateway signage, porta-johns and whether bank/merchant fees can be bid or passed through to users.
A city presentation on the Parking Fund described a restructured enforcement model that combines portions of Police Department enforcement with the parking fund and proposes a new full-time parking authority position while reducing seasonal staffing.
The presenter told councilors the proposed part-time and seasonal-salary budget is lower than last year’s adopted number because the new full-time position would replace some seasonal roles and previous budgets had overestimated seasonal hiring. The parking presentation listed current operations that include four municipal lots (including Gateway and Mary Street), roughly 400 metered on-street spaces, and 47 multi-space meters.
Key cost drivers identified were the city’s contractor for lot operations (Laz Parking), annual maintenance and software agreements for parking equipment, restroom cleaning contracts, and merchant-service fees charged on transactions processed for Gateway. Staff said merchant-service fees — primarily a Bank of America merchant fee and a terminal gateway fee — are deducted from deposits and currently approach roughly $48,000 a year. The presenter said passport/mobile-app payments do not incur the same net deduction to the city because the convenience fee charged to the user covers processing costs; the city receives the full posted parking amount for app transactions.
Councilors asked several operational questions. They pressed for dynamic “spaces-available” signage and directional signs to the Gateway lot (a recommendation in the city’s master transportation plan). Staff said the capital plan includes dynamic sign installations but that initial solar-powered solutions were unreliable in the Mary Street site; staff said they will pursue other vendor options and look to the parking contractor’s national contacts for alternatives. Councilors also asked how many porta-johns had been deployed at Cliff Walk; staff said four temporary stalls were in place this season as a stopgap.
On enforcement and revenue, staff said the ticket-management contractor is paid a percentage of collections and noted that the projected parking-fund revenue estimates intentionally err on the conservative side. The presenter said some facilities temporarily out of service — Long Wharf lot tied to a pump-station project, for example — will reduce near-term revenue relative to a very strong prior year.
Councilors asked whether the city could re-bid or reconfigure merchant services to reduce the roughly $48,000 annual fees; staff said they would research whether contractual arrangements allow the city to change merchant-service providers or offset fees with compensating balances. Staff agreed to return with more detailed breakdowns of internal legal/admin chargebacks and bank-service arrangements.
No formal votes were taken; staff said they will provide follow-up information and a memo on CIP efficiencies later in the week.
