City parking fees to jump City parking fees to jump (October 01, 2004)

Increase will generate $7,000 more for city

By Jon Wiener

The city council departed from its staff's earlier suggestion Tuesday and levied a 10-percent increase in the cost of downtown parking permits.

Prices for daily permits to park in certain downtown lots will increase from $1.15 to $1.25, monthly permits from $18 to $20 and annual permits from $180 to $200.

The increases will net only $7,000 more for the city, but these fee hikes are scheduled to be the first of several incremental increases totaling a combined 40 percent over the next two years. The timing of the increases will depend on the state of the local economy.

Council members said they were reluctant to put an extra burden on employers.

"This may not be the time to make the increase," warned Council member Nick Galiotto, predicting that such action could be the straw that breaks the backs of local businesses and drives them out of downtown.

The city sells the equivalent of approximately 350 yearly permits, according to Berns. Permit prices in Mountain View lag well below the averages for surrounding cities, and revenue from the permits pays for less than one fourth of the $318,000 cost of maintaining city-owned parking spaces in the downtown area, Berns said.

A parking tax on downtown businesses and a city subsidy cover the remaining maintenance costs.

"Downtown businesses are struggling, and it's not a good time to raise the cost of parking," said Council member Greg Perry. He nonetheless supported the incremental increases as a relatively painless way to wean the city from subsidized parking.

In 2001, an outside consultant hired by the city recommended charging five times more for permits, but the council instead voted to gradually double the cost between 2001 and 2003. Because the council deferred the increases due to the high rate of unemployment, the doubling will be not be complete until 2006.

Tuesday's vote was 5-2 in favor of the increases. Galiotto and Mayor Matt Pear, both up for re-election and both endorsed by the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, opposed.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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