‘This is a big mess’ 

All city taxpayers will pay for that decision through the general fund, said Councilmember Michael Salazar — who was part of the dissenting minority, alongside Mayor Rico Medina. 

“Every taxpayer in the city is going to have to pay for this generosity that you’re offering,” he said. “I don’t see how you can say yes to one but no to the other. They go hand in hand.” 

Councilmember Tom Hamiltion acknowledged those concerns, but said the City Council had forgone its ability to raise rates. 

“I totally understand why you want to do that, it makes absolute fiscal sense,” he said. “Because of the troubles this has had and what it’s done to our credibility, I think raising rates is not a fair hand.” 

The decisions made by the City Council to significantly alter its paid parking program will change the original goals of the meter installation, which was to create greater parking turnaround in the downtown without revenue loss, City Manager Alex McIntyre warned. 

“You are now subsidizing parking in our downtown and the general fund is picking up the costs. The general fund has a $4 million deficit right now,” he said. “I just want to make it abundantly clear what we’re doing.” 

The parking program has raised $1.2 million in total revenue thus far, with $610,796 of that total coming from meter payments and $613,950 coming from citations. The costs of operating the program, however, mean it’s still creating a financial loss for the city — $14,000 for  the partial 2024 fiscal year and a projected $18,000 deficit for the 2025 fiscal year. Those losses are projected to continue. 

Councilmembers also voted 3-2 to allow individuals to pay 50 cents for one hour of parking in the lots, rather than $1 for two hours. Salazar again expressed concern that would go against the program’s original goal, which was to push longer-term parkers into the lots and keep short-term parkers downtown. 

“I think this goes completely against what we’re trying to do originally,” he said. 

Councilmembers were in agreement that the city should fund a full-time technician to deal with the kiosk’s bevy of technical programs to the tune of $95,000 a year, as well as pay $25,000 for kiosk re-installations when necessary. 

They also agreed that staff should look into a different mobile application for the program and varying options for loan repayment. 

Ultimately, the program needs a serious reset, Vice Mayor Marty Medina maintained. 

“This is a big mess,” he said. “This is the worst project I’ve been dealing with since I’ve been on council.” 

holly@smdailyjournal.com

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