Transportation Services may raise the cost of parking meters to as much as $1 an hour or decrease the amount of time a parking permit is valid as part of four major plans to generate $72,000 it will need to operate efficiently next semester.
Transportation officials originally hoped an increase in the cost of resident parking permits would cover the department’s $800,000 deficit, but they are searching for other solutions after university officials and students decided to scale down the cost increase.
Rising costs in electricity, water and employee health insurance and a $3 an hour pay increase for full-time bus drivers caused the funding problem.
Last Wednesday, the Student Fee Review Committee decided to increase the cost of permits for residents by $20 instead of the $34 Transportation Services originally proposed. Residents will now pay $353 for their 2005-2006 permits instead of $367.
David Allen, Transportation Services director, said meters that allow parking for more than an hour may cost 75 cents per hour instead of 50 cents next year, and he isn’t ruling out increasing the rate to $1 an hour.
Another option is to allow parking permits to be valid only from end of August through the end of May. Currently, they are valid through the summer. The shortened time period would not make permits any cheaper, Allen said. If students want to park on the campus during the summer, they would have to pay more for a separate permit.
Transportation officials also are considering cutting the department’s Motor Assistance Vehicle program, which provides free car help, such as flat tire repair and battery jump-starts, to people on the campus. In an average year, MAV provides help for more than 2,000 people on the campus.
Allen said he was also considering charging students who request to use courier permits, which allow parking close to campus buildings for up to 24 hours.
After the vote to decrease the permit fees, Allen said he was surprised the administration agreed to scale down the resident permit proposal after the Residence Halls Association, a group that looks out for on-campus residents’ interests, approved the original increases.
When a department proposes a fee increase, the proposal has to go through a series of discussions and votes before it can be finalized. For example, with the parking permits, the RHA first votes on it and once it approves it, the proposal moves to the Student Fee Review Committee for another vote.
After the committee of students and faculty members approve it, the proposal will then move on to university President Dan Mote and then to the Board of Regents for the final vote.
“It’s interesting that the board would change what the Resident Hall Association didn’t,” Allen said.
It will be about two weeks before the department will make a final decision about which option they will choose, but department officials stressed that raising fees does not guarantee if the needed profit would be generated. If adequate profit is not made through the new proposals, they will make more cuts.
“It’s much easier to make cuts because if you make the cut, you won’t spend the money anymore,” Allen said.
The cost of commuter and staff parking permits will have double digit increases next semester. Off-campus students will pay 10 percent more — a $17 increase, raising permit prices from $166 to $183. Permit costs for staff members who make less than $50,000 annually will rise from $314 to $345, and staff making more than $50,000 annually will have their permit cost increase from $470 to $517.
The final decision on permit increases will be decided by the regents later this semester.
