The City was poised to raise special event parking rates in downtown Peoria parking decks by one dollar last night — from $5 to $6. But it got deferred. Why? Evidently because they want to make sure such a supposedly draconian increase is warranted; to assess whether parking attendants are capable of making $4 change when presented with a sawbuck; to survey the cost of parking in private decks to make sure they’re not going to lose parking patrons. They’re going to do a study and come back with a report in May.
Oh brother.
The City is operating their parking decks at a loss. They are subsidizing downtown parking by setting their rates artificially low. So if they find that private parking decks are matching the City’s parking rates, that’s going to mean one of two things: either the private decks have figured out how to run a profit at that rate (in which case one should ask why the City is running such a huge loss), or else the City’s low rates are artificially depressing the rates private parking decks can charge. I can guarantee you it’s the latter. It has caused several private parking decks to close since the city started getting into the parking business.
So the City’s plan is, apparently, to base its rates on the rates of private parking decks, whose rates are artificially low because of the subsidized rates charged at City decks. Brilliant! A perfect defense for further parking subsidies downtown that the City can ill afford.
Parking decks are a money loser public or private. People would not pay what the actual cost really are. What decks have closed? I don’t really remember seeing any vacant parking decks around town.
I have said this before. The city may subsidize parking downtown but they also subsidize development out north. As the city grows and business’s locate in cornfields they city has to build new roads, fire stations, more police, snow removal, sewer, etc. Who pays for that?
Peoriafan,
There used to be a three story parking deck between the Madison Theatre and the Holiday Inn City Centre (old Continental Regency along Madison Street. It was torn down and currently there is just surface level parkng lot………. memory freshener
I was at the Red Carpet Car wash downtown today. Inside they have all these pictures of early 20th century Peoria. I noted one picture where there were still street cars, on street diagonal parking on all sides, and mobs of people on all the sidewalks going about their business. From the upper floors of two buildings the city had stretched a banner that read, ” Free City Parking –> ”
Hmm…