10-05-2021, 09:53 AM
(10-04-2021, 09:07 PM)taylortbb Wrote:(10-04-2021, 06:37 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: Hang on a second. This sounds like the City paying the parking enterprise to provide free (to the user) parking. In other words, the parking operation is covering its operating expenses. Imagine hypothetically the parking enterprise were a private corporation which owned the parking garages and street parking spaces. They could charge for parking, but they would also (presumably) be happy to accept money in a block grant from the City to make some of the street parking spaces available for free to all comers.
It depends what question you're asking. If the question is "do property taxes net subsidize parking in DTK" then I think the transfer for free parking being larger than the profit of the parking enterprise is relevant. You're not wrong a private parking company would be happy to accept the block grant too, but I don't think that really answers the question "is downtown parking profitable for the city" . I'm also skeptical that meters on King St would really bring in $1.3M/year, but I'll admit I have no data on that.
OK, yes, I see what you’re getting at. Those free parking spaces are subsidized, even if the parking operation as such isn’t (ignoring that stuff about capital expenses). And of course there is the opportunity cost of not using the parking spaces for something else, whether it’s patios, more sidewalk space, or micro-park space.