Scranton pauses immediate Saturday parking enforcement, agrees to $50,000-a-year subsidy while consultant studies demand

Scranton city officials told the City Council they have negotiated a deal that pauses immediate implementation of Saturday parking enforcement and provides a $50,000 annual subsidy to Grow America for three years while a formal study is completed.

"I'm proud and pleased to report that Saturday enforcement will no longer be taking effect immediately," said Jess, a city staff member, announcing the negotiated change and the subsidy. The administration said the pause is intended to give businesses and residents time to provide input while data are collected.

The nut of the decision was financial: bondholders had modeled Saturday enforcement revenue into the financing and, in exchange for delaying enforcement, accepted a trimmed bond structure. "They were leaving $15,000,000 on the table," a parking operations speaker said, describing negotiations that reduced the borrowable amount from about $45 million to roughly $30 million to make the transaction work without immediately increasing rates.

Special counsel Liz Prieet Gavey, who said she was tasked with negotiating for the city, told council members the bondholders' current model counts the $50,000 annual subsidy as part of future revenue assumptions. "The bondholder thinks this is gonna work is just $50,000 a year," Gavey said, adding that nothing in the agreement legally requires the city to implement Saturday enforcement later.

Officials said the city will hire Walker Consultants to conduct a formal study of Saturday parking demand — occupancy, turnover and duration — and to gather on-the-street counts and business input. "They're going to count cars. They're going to look at how many cars are on the street, when they park, how long they stay, what streets they park on," said Dave Trevisani, a city staff member describing the consultant scope. The administration estimated the formal study will take about a year.

During the three-year subsidy period, the city said it remains "in the driver's seat" and can decide after review of the consultant report and business feedback whether to continue the subsidy or move to Saturday enforcement. "We pay a short term subsidy to give them the space to study this, to give businesses the time to provide input," Jess said.

Officials stressed the fiscal risks of not reaching an agreement. They warned that if Grow America or CDPS defaulted on the bonds, bondholders could seek foreclosure or ask a court to appoint a receiver to run the parking system — a scenario that would remove municipal control over rates and enforcement hours and could produce large legal costs. "If a default were to occur...any say we have in the parking rates in the enforcement hours immediately gets wiped away," Jess said. City staff cited a 2012 default that prompted a receiver and more than $2 million in legal fees paid by the city.

Operational details discussed included continued $1-per-hour garage rates, a candidate enforcement window of about 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. for on-street controls, and a plan to add two part-time employees to enforcement staffing if changes proceed. Officials also noted an existing downtown resident discount program and said the parking team is mapping recent residential development to understand demand.

Council members raised customer-experience concerns about malfunctioning kiosks and asked staff to improve signage and repair response; staff said maintenance crews typically repair kiosks within 24 hours and that larger fixes are reported electronically.

The administration framed the subsidy as a modest short-term cost compared with the risks of default and the potential for receivership to impose higher rates or 24/7 enforcement. The study’s results will be returned to the council and the business community for further discussion and a final decision.

The council did not record a formal roll-call vote on changes during the discussion; staff described the agreement as a negotiated arrangement with bondholders that the administration is presenting to the council and the public. The meeting adjourned after questions and staff responses.