Bill Type and Number: Ordinance 2007 - 91

Sponsor: Council President at the request of the Mayor

Date of Introduction: January 23, 2007

Committee(s) of Reference: F, ECID

Date of Analysis: January 26, 2007

Type of Action: Appropriation

Bill Summary: The bill appropriates $500,000 from the Northeast Tax Increment District to fund the cost of purchasing and installing new and more advanced parking meters in the downtown area. The bill further stipulates that the transferred money will be repaid from parking renenues into the Downtown Economic Development account over a two year period beginning in FY 2007-08.

Background Information: The Public Parking Division estimates that the appropriation will fund the cost of buying and installing approximately 1000 parking meters and poles plus other needed equipment. As there are currently around 1600 meters in operation, the new meters will be located in the more heavily trafficked locations around the city hall, annexes and county courthouse.

A RFP will be let generally specifying programmable, "smartcard," single-space digital meters. There are three major manufacturers of this type of equipment. Once installed, the Division will be able to individually program times and amounts on meters. Further, each meter can be audited on its performance and effectiveness. With the new meters, the Division will also see a significant savings in annual battery costs as the new meters will have batteries with a 5 year life, a life much greater than the current non-digital meters now being used at many spaces.

Policy Impact Area: Downtown parking

Fiscal Impact: The bill appropriates $500,000

Analyst: Weiss