Pittsfield Council Approves Parking Meter Expenses
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Since the parking meters were installed in January 2017, just short of $200,000 has been collected.
And with that, the city is looking to spend $146,000 on parking-related expenses. The council had previously approved spending $130,000 and approved increasing that by $16,000 Tuesday night to cover additional fees associated with the four newest meters in the renovated First Street parking lot and increased processing fees from more people using the app to pay.
"I'm seeking a $16,000 increase in the total appropriation and I am confident in my projections that the expenses will come in under that $146,000," Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said.
The City Council, however, was critical of the request, partly because the meters were hotly debated when first rolled out and when later the revenue figures came in significantly lower than what was originally presented. The councilors spent more than 40 minutes Tuesday night digging into the details.
The city created a separate account from the general fund for parking revenue, which currently has $199,781 in it. From that account, $18,000 is going toward service and bank fees, $48,000 for meter service fees, $30,000 for repairs to the McKay Street garage, $47,000 for the purchase of a new license plate reader for the parking clerks, and $3,000 for supplies.
Within that total appropriation, there were also such purchases as bags to collect the coins, paying an armored car to transport the bags to the bank, and the bank to collect and sort the change (which weren't included in the original plan). When the meters were first rolled out, the Department of Public Services would empty the meter, bring it to Kerwood, who would then physically walk it over to Berkshire Bank and use the change machine. There was also a broken kiosk that needed to be fixed.
"I don't believe there was a fair amount of thought on how the coins will be handled by the previous administration," Kerwood said of the rollout.
The council also dug into the expenses for the fees. The city pays 15 cents of the fee for users using the app and pays the 12 cent fee to users who pay by credit card. Kerwood said there has been an increased usage of the app, leading to more fees.
"We are really not in a position to negotiate those," Kerwood said in response to a question from Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo, who questioned the terms of those fees.
The cost to replace a broken kiosk stood out to Ward 5 Councilor Donna Todd Rivers, who wanted to know if there would be a certain dollar amount set aside in the future when the meters get older. Kerwood said at this point it is still too early to see trends but that will be part of the decisions in asking for future appropriations.
Others wondered about changes to where the meters are deployed. Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell questioned why meters are still near Carr Hardware, where there is ample private parking for customers and which are collecting a lot less money, and not on Wendell Avenue where there is more demand.
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli said while meters on Wahconah seem to be taking in a lot less in revenue, he expects the long-awaited renovations to the intersections near the hospital and the eventual development of a Pittsfield Cooperative Bank on Burbank Street -- which was approved some five years ago but never moved forward -- will increase demand. The parcel once eyed for the bank is now being used as a parking lot and one that is not owned by the city and does not have meters.
Kerwood said an internal group is looking at the possibility of moving meters to different locations. He added that places like South Street and Wendell Avenue were originally planned to have meters but the city hasn't expanded the program to those areas.
"With every plan, there is always an opportunity to improve it," Kerwood said.
But, he added, "there is no set plan to do anything [different] at this point. Whatever would be done would be done with a good deal of consultation with all of the stakeholders."
The meters have been installed for a year and Kerwood said now there is enough data to start looking for trends, whether that be areas or times or seasons. From there, recommendations can eventually come forward for any possible changes to the program.
Tags: parking meters,
.jpg)
