By Andrew de Souza

Parking fee increase on the table

Mar 22, 2011 | 6:36 AM

City council will consider raising parking rates in the downtown core.

Council is considering raising the cost across the board for parking for everything from hourly rates and passes to fines.

The city’s transportation department presented city council with a report about parking in the downtown core that made several recommendations.

One was that the standard hourly parking rate be increased to $1 from 50 cents. It also recommended that all passes be almost doubled in price.

As well, the report recommended that fines be increased to a minimum of $10 per infraction up from $5.

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The figures have been the same for years in the city, said city transportation manager, Paul Georget. He said the increase still keeps the city competitive with other cities, but also allows for more revenue to be generated.

“It is fair, the prices are still reasonable for the size of our city,” he said. “This would help the city generate more revenue to help pay for other programs in the city.”

Georget said the recommendation is to implement the parking rates by July, but he said it was ultimately up to council.

According to the report, the city collects about $20,000 per month and the increase is expected to increase that amount to $41,000.

Georget said the money would go mainly towards upgrading old parking meters with a little left over for the city’s coffers.

Council likes the idea

The city’s executive committee was given the report on Monday. The original recommendation was to give administration a month to reach out to the public and downtown businesses to see if the idea was palatable.

Councillor Jayne Remenda said however that wasn’t really necessary. She said businesses had been recommending increased rates and fines in order to discourage people parking all day for a mere $5 violation ticket.

However, she said she wanted the money generated from the meters and fines to stay in the downtown area.

“My motion is that those dollars continue to be invested in the neighbourhood, regardless of how limited it is,” Remenda said, after recommending council address the issue next week instead of waiting a month.

“It’s the customers paying for the parking and I think it would be easier for the patrons in the district to follow the increase if they knew that that money was being reinvested.”

The committee voted to pass along the proposed increase to council for discussion. They’ll discuss it next Monday.

adesouza@panow.com