Well, here’s some news – I not only blew off Tuesday’s council meeting – I didn’t even read the agenda! And look what I missed – council drove another nail into Downtown’s coffin with plans to put a parking nazi – just for Downtown – on the permanent payroll.
This is how desperate the city of Chico has become, read it yourself. It’s not about compliance with the law, or they’d be over here at the church across from my house every Sunday. It’s about revenues for our cash-strapped, spend-happy little town. They need to find some way to pay for those pensions, 70-90 percent of their highest year’s pay, available at age 50.
Our community is upside down. Our public workers are supposed to serve us, and receive a secure job with a livable wage in return. Instead we have a pack of elitists who have grown to expect slave behavior out of us. We serve the public workers, and we get nothing in return.
We should be asking our council candidates, would they support “right to work” legislation, which would dump the unions that currently run our town.
Parking enforcement turnover leads to lower revenue
City planning to make one position full-time
Chico >> Parking fine revenue has fallen drastically in the city of Chico, but city officials say it has little to do with parking habits and more about enforcement challenges.
This week, the Chico City Council approved a supplemental appropriation to accurately adjust this year’s budget, including recognizing a $170,000 shortfall in parking fine revenue. Though countered by increases and shortfalls in other fund areas, that decline in revenue impacts the general fund, where it would otherwise be available for purposes such as public safety, roads and parks.
“We are confident that it’s tied to performance related to enforcement and not necessarily decreased demand or people actually obeying the law more?” Mayor Scott Gruendl asked staff Tuesday.
Unfortunately no, said Administrative Services Director Chris Constantin. He would prefer people complying with the law but such a dramatic drop in revenue indicates otherwise, especially as meter revenue is down only slightly from the prior year.
As a result, one addition to next year’s budget is to make one temporary parking enforcement position a permanent benefitted position to combat turnover and lapses in enforcement.
An effective enforcement specialist will generate revenue that more than equates for their salary and benefits, Constantin said. They will also gain more experience and provide a better balance of discretion in issuing citations – a complaint the city has heard from downtown constituents.
The Police Department currently has two part-time parking services specialists, though that is not consistent throughout the year. As temporary employees, they are limited to a lifetime maximum of 2,000 hours with the city and as a result the position, which pays $11 to $14 per hour, has regular turnover.
“This year it’s becoming more of a challenge to find new people,” said Accounting Manager Frank Fields.
For 2013-14, about $530,000 was projected for enforcement revenue from all types of parking violations, but actual revenue appears to be just two-thirds of that. It’s difficult to quantify the exact reasons for the decrease, but turnover has reduced parking enforcement officers’ time on the streets, Fields said.
In 2007-2008, 27,000 citations were issued. That fell to 15,200 the following year but returned to 27,400 the next year. Through April of this year, 13,036 citations have been issued — a 31 percent decrease the same period of 2012-13.
“When we have a consistent presence of parking specialists or enforcement efforts downtown, the citation issuance goes up,” Fields said. “When we see those dips in the past, there was less staffing.”
Meter violations have risen in cost over the years, now at $29. They yield the highest percentage of citations, at approximately 75 percent of the total issued.
“There comes a point in time when certainly the amount will change behavior,” Fields said. Whether or not that has happened here and is part of the reason for the decrease is hard to know.”
Parking services specialist Jim Stanfield started with the city two months ago. The city wants parking enforcers to be downtown ambassadors and a positive figure of enforcement, he said, and he expects it will be an enjoyable job for the next two years.
Some days he won’t see a single car for hours and other days it can be a continuous stream of violations. While some people complain, most are understanding when they have gotten a ticket, Stanfield said.
He does his best to educate people about obeying parking laws downtown, including locations of free spaces and how to keep the meter fed, to help avoid tickets.
“Don’t play the game. Just pay the extra 25 cents,” he advised. “It’s better than $29.”
The city’s total parking revenue from meters, lots and leases adds up to $ 1 million a year. Other parking related revenue for 2013-14 has seen only minor changes, small drops in street and lot meters and an increase in parking permits.
Chico Taxpayers Association 