Last month, Scranton earned less in parking meter and citation revenue collected by a private firm than it did in January 2012 under the now-inactive Scranton Parking Authority, according to city figures.
Scranton has hired a private firm, Standard Parking, to operate the city's on-street meter program on a month-to-month basis, pending a longer-term management agreement.
That longer-term plan, a proposed five-year pact that would include extending meter hours, days and rates, was put on hold by city council earlier this month due to concerns from the downtown business community and the public.
Under the proposed five-year plan, Standard submitted a proposed budget estimating $3.8 million in meter revenue over a year, with a net to the city of $2.8 million. That would be $1.8 million more than $1 million a year the city used to net under its prior meter arrangement with SPA, council members and its solicitor have said.
The $3.8 million budget would comprise the following: $1.27 million from meters; $1.88 million from citations; $388,000 from a 50-cent meter rate increase; $145,527 from technology upgrades; and $145,527 from standard operating practices.
Meter collections of $1.2 million a year would be $100,000 a month, and citation revenue of $1.8 million a year would translate to $150,000 a month.
According to city records, meter revenue was $67,942 in January 2013, as compared to $76,665 collected in January 2012 when SPA ran the meter program.
Meter ticket revenue this January was $20,840, as compared to $26,870 in January 2012.
In a separate arrangement, the city's five parking garages have been operated since mid-September by Central Parking, a private firm that merged recently with Standard Parking. Since Central took over the garages, garage revenue has been lagging behind the firm's initial and revised estimates, according to public documents and the court-appointed receiver who hired Central.
Efforts to reach a representative of Standard Parking regarding meter revenue figures were unsuccessful. In an interview about the garages last week, a representative of Central said it's not fair to draw conclusions based on figures from only a few winter months, and before various initiatives have been implemented.
City Business Administrator Ryan McGowan said a lag in meter revenue could be due to a combination of factors, including that Standard's budget "was based on a lot of things that need to be done, but can't be done until a full management agreement is in place. Without that, it's going to be difficult for them to hit their numbers."
Leslie Collins of Scranton Tomorrow, a nonprofit community and economic development organization, said of the meter figures, "That was one of our concerns, that before entering into a (five-year) contract we would hope they (city officials) would look at Standard Parking's efforts to date and see if they reached any milestones."
Standard has been relying on an independent parking study performed last year for SPA, Standard officials told council during a recent meeting. However, business owners have expressed concern that they had not been contacted for input in that parking study. It also had been conducted during only one day in April and only between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., and there was no analysis of parking habits during weekdays after 5 p.m. or on Saturdays, Ms. Collins said.
"So, our concern is 'Where are the valid findings to base these changes on?' " said Ms. Collins, noting her organization is trying to bring all parties on the issue together. "The businesses are not against Standard Parking or enhancements. They are looking forward to improvements in the parking situation. Yet, there are specific elements in this (five-year) contract that need to be looked into in depth."
Meanwhile, council on Thursday kept the proposed five-year pact tabled, and as it remains in limbo two months of the year are nearly over.
As more time passes, Mr. McGowan said, "Obviously, there's going to have to be adjustments made and numbers will have to be refined."
Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com