Got Your Parking Bill?

I'm not saying who, but someone I know recently got a letter in the mail from the new Parking Department. It contained a "friendly" reminder that a parking ticket -- the standard $15 fine for failure to feed the meter -- was long past due and had now doubled to $30.

It seems that the new Parking Director, on the job less than 2 weeks, has already figured out how to wrestle a billing out of the notoriously cranky computer system - a task which has been done only rarely in the past few years. There were $55,000 in outstanding parking fines that were notified in this billing cycle, and some perpetrators have wracked up hundreds of dollars in fines (they might want to pay those before they try to renew their car registration). Considering that parking revenue for the entire year is expected to be in the $650,000 range (including all meters, monthly permits and fines), this is a significant chunk of change.

As I attended Tuesday's meeting of the new Parking Department*, it was apparent that Parking Director Tom Hartley brings plenty of parking savvy and business smarts to the job. In addition to new monthly billings, I expect that many of the issues that were raised during Middletown's Parking Study will soon be addressed. Do people frequently find ways to avoid paying for daily parking? Do stores have trouble ensuring that their customers will find spaces? Do our prices even make sense, or is it cheaper to lounge in a Main Street space all day than to park and walk a block? Mr. Hartley is already hard at work to the answers to these and other questions.

Just thought I should warn you.




*Full Disclosure: I'm a commissioner for the Parking Department.