Evanston staff cite $1.3M processing cost as they weigh parking-fee and enforcement changes

Deputy City Manager Karina Sanchez told the Economic Development Committee on July 22 that the city paid more than $1,300,000 in credit-card processing fees in 2025 and that a large share of that cost — nearly $600,000 — was from the parking app. Sanchez said the city negotiated a vendor arrangement in which Passport is paid per transaction and the vendor provides software changes at no retainer. "In 2025 alone, the city paid over $1,300,000 in credit card processing fees," Sanchez said.

Sanchez walked the committee through how fees flow in the parking app: single transactions now show about 47¢, wallet loads and subsequent wallet transactions are 30¢, and pay-station card transactions are 22¢; cash at pay stations carries no fee. She said app usage rose from roughly 76% to nearly 82% of transactions since 2024, and staff found nearly 1.6 million app sessions in 2025. "If you want to avoid any and all fees, you can go to our pay stations and use coins and use cash," Sanchez said.

Staff also presented enforcement and revenue context. Downtown has just under 1,500 metered spaces; Central Street and Main-Dempster have roughly 484 and 535 spaces, respectively. Sanchez gave an example estimate that making one downtown meter free would cost the city about $2,700 a year, and 10 such spaces would cost close to $27,000. She warned that broad free-parking proposals could reduce general-fund revenue that supports municipal services and facilities.