Prices for city parking facilities, as well as University of Wisconsin campus parking, are expected to rise this summer to maintain upkeep costs.
Changes to the prices are scheduled to begin in June 2012, according to a statement from the Madison Transit and Parking Commission.
“Unfortunately, the rate increases are a necessary evil to maintain our aging facilities,” Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4 said. “The No. 1 factor in raising these rates is to raise money to pay for the repair and replacement of our aging garages.”
Depending on the outcome of meetings with downtown business and property owners, as well as a public hearing and additional approval by City Council, the rates would increase at varying degrees, Verveer said. For example, single pole meter rates would increase from $1.50 to $1.75, according to the statement.
Verveer also explained that the city and UW, though not identical, do work together to develop rates for parking, and try to have “fairly consistent rates.”
The annual permit to park in base lots on campus will go up by $45, said Associate Director of UW Transportation Services Casey Newman. The fiscal year begins in July, so anyone buying permits after this time will be paying the new rate.
This mainly affects students who would be buying permits for the new school year in September, as annual permits are valid from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31, Newman said.
“We don’t receive any outside funding,” Newman said. “So the revenues we collect through permits and whatnot is how we fund our operations, and in order to fund our current costs we need to do a series of things and some of those include a small rate increase.”
Newman does not expect this to affect the demand for parking permits. He said there aren’t enough parking spots for every person that wants one, and there is currently a waiting list.
He said even if people do decide to hold off on purchasing a new permit, there is no expectation for the amount of permits issued to go down.
Day and half-day rates, however, will remain the same, as will metered spots and on camps ramps, Newman said.
