AGENDA #5h
BUDGET WORKING PAPER
TO: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
FROM: Kay Johnson, Interim Finance Director
SUBJECT: Report on Proposed Extension of Operating Hours for Parking Lots 3 and 5.
DATE: March 30, 2004
This memorandum provides information on the Town’s off-street parking operations and supports the recommendation to increase the hours of operation in Lots 5 and 3 to midnight.
With the installation of the Automatic Pay Stations at Lot 5, we extended the hours of activation from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The extension of time limits has generated about $4,500 in revenue that we would not have otherwise realized. As downtown Chapel Hill has significant activity during the evening hours which generates a demand for parking, we propose that the Town further extend the hours at Lot 5 from the current ending time of 8:00 p.m. to midnight. We estimate that we will earn an additional $8,000 in daily lot revenues annually by extending the hours of operation to midnight.
We recommend the conversion of Lot 3 to a pay station operation in order to offer the same flexibility and convenience as we offer at Lot 5. One complaint that we often receive with regards to parking is that there is no long-term parking available to merchants on West Franklin Street. Business owners in the West Franklin Street area also indicate that their customers often complain of the inconvenience of having to rush back to the meters to avoid citations. Installation of Automatic Pay Station and a change in parking time limits would address these concerns.
We have the same potential to realize greater revenues by extending the hours of operation at Lot 3 as at Lot 5. We estimate that we will earn an additional $6,900 in daily lot revenues annually if hours at Lot 3 are extended to midnight from the present ending time of 6:00 p.m. The one time cost to install the Automatic Pay Station is approximately $17,000. As such, the revenues generated in the first year will not cover the installation expenses. The remaining cost of approximately $10,000 would be paid from the Parking Lots Fund Balance. The current fund balance is sufficient to cover this expense.
We recommend that the Council extend the hours of enforcement at Lot 5 from the present 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. to the new hours of 8:00 a.m. to midnight. We also recommend, upon conversion of Lot 3 to a pay station operation, that the hours of operation be changed from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.
In addition to an increase in daily revenues, we also anticipate that revenues from fines from both lots would increase with the extension of enforcement hours that will be needed to ensure compliance.