Last year, they took a four-page budget for a $1.1 million department.
This year, when Downtown Investment Authority officials present the fiscal proposal to the Mayor’s Budget Review Committee, they’ll arrive with that, plus a 42-page, $6.5 million addition.
That’s because part of Mayor Lenny Curry’s reorganization put the city’s Downtown parking facilities under the auspices of the authority.
Staff has been working with the public parking officer to gain an understanding of what’s involved in the temporary storage of unoccupied motor vehicles.
“I’ve learned more about parking than I thought I’d ever know,” said Tom Daly, the authority’s real estate analyst.
Authority board members and staff met Thursday with Bob Carle, city chief of public parking, to work out details of the presentation and to better understand municipal accounting practices.
The parking department budget includes the usual line items, such as salaries and benefits.
But there’s much more detail involved in the financial picture, like cleaning costs for enforcement officers’ uniforms and credit card processing fees.
Carle explained many of the finer points of the budget to be presented compared to the 2015-16 revenue and expenses document.
The department is carrying over about $514,000 because purchase of more electronic parking meters planned last year to replace aging mechanical meters was postponed to allow the next generation to hit the market, avoiding purchase of less-than-current technology.
“We want to be on the cutting edge, not the bleeding edge,” Carle said.
The parking budget also includes indirect costs. Daly explained the city charges for some services it provides, such as information technology, and revenue-generating departments pay part of the expenses incurred by non-revenue generating departments.
Public parking, through fees and fines, collects more money than is spent each year.
Aundra Wallace, authority CEO, said with the consolidation of public parking, DIA controls about 25 percent of Downtown’s parking and taking on the new responsibilities is part of the vision for the organization.
“We are learning the parking business,” he said. “We have to understand the numbers and the operation.”
The short-term goal is to ensure the city’s parking facilities operate efficiently and complement the private parking operations.
Ultimately, the authority plans to use parking as an economic development tool, possibly offering free or discounted parking to prospective tenants who might establish new businesses Downtown or move from the suburbs.
The authority is scheduled to present its budget to the administration June 22.
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