Jackson City Council moves to rescind downtown parking-meter plan after public outcry

Jackson City Council on March 26 moved to rescind its March 11 resolution approving paid parking in the downtown central business district, after a city engineer outlined funding options for the parking system and a string of downtown business owners and residents urged the council to reverse course.

City Engineer Troy White told the council the parking system faces an estimated $403,000 in annual costs and that the city’s options include (1) keeping assessments at last year’s level and slashing services, (2) raising assessments to maintain current services, or (3) increasing assessments and permit/fine revenue to build a fund balance for future improvements. White said the city currently has roughly $43,000 in the parking fund and noted a standing bond payment tied to earlier lot work.

The presentation framed three funding approaches but emphasized that “doing nothing” is not viable because bond obligations remain. White said the budget picture he showed assumed about $190,000 in permit sales, roughly $192,000 in special assessments and some fines to…