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Asheville council leans toward South Slope metering, asks staff for data on parking-hour changes
Summary
Council signaled support for expanding metered parking into South Slope and asked staff for more data on potential changes such as removing the first free hour and extending meter hours to 8 p.m. Staff cautioned parking revenue is constrained to the parking enterprise fund and detailed meter-hour revenue estimates and capital needs for garages and equipment.
Staff reviewed enterprise funds and described policies that generally target an unassigned fund balance equal to 8% (Harris 16%, water uses a full-year working-capital measure). Lindsey Spangler reported planned uses of enterprise fund balances and emphasized restrictions on transferring enterprise revenues to the general fund.
On parking, staff outlined options discussed previously: eliminate the first free hour (alternative: 15 minutes free), extend meter hours from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and expand metered areas into South Slope and other neighborhoods. Presentation estimates indicate extending meters to 8 p.m. could increase gross revenue by about $460,000, with a net of roughly $200,000 in the first year and about $300,000 in subsequent years. Council members expressed mixed views on removing the first free hour but generally supported adding meters in South Slope (especially where infrastructure work is already underway) and asked parking staff to provide data on usage patterns and how incremental revenue would be allocated (capital reserves, meter replacement, garage maintenance, security).
Staff also outlined other enterprise fund notes: transit faces a roughly $1.2 million gap next year tied to a new contract and higher paratransit costs (to be covered by transit fund balance), Harris venue projected higher revenues and expenses tied to event recovery, and Street Cut fund is lower partly because fund balance used this year is not available next year.
Council direction: Council asked staff to return with more precise parking usage data and clear proposals showing what additional parking revenue would fund before changes are finalized in the proposed budget.
