When you’re not lucky enough to find a free parking space on the street (only about 700 of them), many of us turn to one of the city’s many parking garages scattered throughout the city. Most of you know the first hour of parking is free in all city parking facilities, so if you’re just making a quick stop, you can skip the hunt for a free space all together.
When do you have to pay for parking in a garage, where does that money go? We asked Oni Maxey, Interim Parking Services General Manager for the city of Greenville. She was kind enough to pull some data from the Office of Management and Budget regarding parking, so here’s the breakdown.
The cities parking facilities are anticipated to generate $9,598,028 in operating revenues from sources including monthly, daily, and special event parking fees and citations.
From that revenue, the Parking Fund will pay $3,420,157 in operating expenses for the administration of the Parking division, maintenance of the garages and lots, and enforcement of parking regulations.
The Parking Fund will also pay $4,091,213 in debt service for various outstanding bonds related to the construction of the garages. Other non-operating expenses include a $625,000 annual deposit into a sinking fund for large-scale garage refurbishment, and $368,841 to reimburse the General Fund for a portion of allocated overhead expenses (payroll, Human Resources, Financial Management, legal services, etc.).
When you add the anticipated FY2018 parking fund revenues up and subtract all of the anticipated FY2018 expenses, you are left with $1,169,630, which will add to the Parking Fund’s Fund Balance (aka savings account). Those funds accumulate over time and are available for use to finance capital projects (such as construction of a new garage).
So there you have it, the majority of the fees collected from city parking facilities is funneled right back into the parking infrastructure, providing safe, lighted parking garages for all.
