Looking back over the years, it’s amazing how they decided that parking tickets are the ideal way to finance the city. Also interesting how they transferred ticketing in 2011 from the police dept to the finance dept to “improve morale”. Like it’s more exciting to work in the finance dept than the police dept??
But that tells us they have 24 people (with salaries of $1.42 million) enforcing tickets? Are they in the general fund for the finance dept? I don’t see a breakdown other than “General” and “Water/Sewer”.
2006 Budget:
Continued high attrition among the ranks of the Parking Regulation Enforcement Officers (PREO’s), along with the policy of assigning non-emergency public safety related tasks to the PREO’s in order to free up more police officers for street patrol, has reduced the volume of ticket writing to the point that FY 2005 revenues are projected to be $935,000 below budget. There is no indication that this policy will be discontinued in the short-run, and thus, we project $1.5 million in Parking Ticket revenue for FY 2006.
2007 Budget:
Two additional Parking Regulation Enforcement Officers (PREO’s) and a Scofflaw Enforcer are being added at a cost of $134,514. This additional staffing is part of a multipronged approach to increase enforcement in the neighborhoods, as well as the business district.
Parking Tickets/Booting Up $1,900,000 to $3,400,000
Parking Tickets/Booting
With additional staffing and a multi-pronged approach to increasing enforcement and collection (as part of the implementation of the Finance department’s “Plan for Change”), Parking Tickets revenue is forecast to rebound sharply from the decline of recent years. Already, the FY 2006 second quarter shows an increase of $300,000. With an additional $500,000 forecast as a result of the more focused approach, parking ticket revenue is projected to increase $800,000, to a new total of $2.3 million in FY 2007.
To further enhance scofflaw enforcement and collections, the City will contract with a private vendor to implement the PayLock delinquency abatement system. Using mobile licence plate recognition cameras and software, along with self-releasing computerized vehicle boots, it is projected that the number of scofflaw vehicles found and booted will increase from a few hundred per year to over 5,000. The additional revenue from implementing this program is conservatively
estimated at $1.1 million, greatly exceeding the cost of $581,250.
2008 Budget:
Support operations in the Police Department are also being bolstered. Two new specialized civilian positions have been approved for FY 2008: a Bilingual Victims Case Coordinator and an Information Input Specialist. The cost of these positions is $75,695 and $57,957 respectively. As part of the multi-pronged approach to increase enforcement in the neighborhoods, as well as the business district, an additional Parking Regulation Enforcement Officer (PREO) is being added at a cost of $48,774. Lastly, a new Administrative Clerk I position to perform clerical duties in the Patrol Division added $52,413 to the Budget.
FINES consists of Parking Tickets/Booting Fines and Criminal/Traffic Fines
With additional staffing and a multi-pronged approach to increasing enforcement and collection (as part of the Finance Department’s Plan for Change), Parking Tickets/Booting revenue is forecast to climb beyond the increase projected for FY 2007. To further enhance scofflaw enforcement and collections, the City
contracted last year with a private vendor to implement the PayLock delinquency abatement system. Using mobile licence plate recognition cameras and software, along with self-releasing computerized vehicle boots, the number of scofflaw vehicles found and booted has increased dramatically. With an additional $600,000 forecast as a result of a more focused approach that includes better enforcement in residential neighborhoods, Parking Ticket/Booting revenue is projected to increase to $4 million in FY 2008. The use of the PayLock system will also be extended to bolster the payment rate of red-light violations captured on film, increasing Criminal/Traffic revenue by $375,000, to a new total of $1.2 million
2009 Budget:
Parking Tickets/Booting revenue is forecast to stay at the FY 2008 budgeted level. Revenues in this category were pulled down $500,000 in the FY 2008 First Quarter projection, when a sharp decline in ticket writing and booting was observed. Problems with vacancies and other personnel management issues are expected to be resolved before the end of this fiscal year, giving confidence that the $4 million level can be reached in FY 2009
2010 Budget:
Parking Tickets/Booting Fines revenue is forecast to increase by $2.2 million above the FY 2009 budgeted level. Revenues in this category will be enhanced by several factors: a second boot van added in the mid-FY 2009, a proposed $15 increase to parking citations, and projected boot van efficiency gains.
Licenses, Permits and Fees revenue is projected to be $4.4 million in FY 2010, about the same as the FY 2009 budget. Business Licenses show a $300,000 increase above the FY 2009 Budget due to continued compliance audits and increased field monitoring. Fees are slated to rise by $400,000 due to a $0.50 per hour increase in Parking Meter rates throughout the City. Unfortunately, the increase in Business Licenses and Fees are completely offset by a projected $705,000 decline in Permits, as building activity has slowed considerably.
2011 Budget:
To improve flagging productivity and morale, management of the parking ticket and scofflaw enforcement (booting) operations are being transferred from the Police Department to the Finance Department. As a result, the budgets for the twenty-four related positions ($1.42 million) and the supporting services and materials ($48,000) were moved from Police to Finance.
Parking Tickets/Booting Fines revenue is forecast to increase by $350,000 above the FY 2010 budgeted level or $2.35 million more than the FY 2010 2nd quarter projection. Revenues in this category will be affected by two factors: a significant management change to the ticket-writing and booting operations by transferring oversight of these operations from Police to Finance, with an eye toward privatization; and the implementation of the vehicle registration hold program through the Delaware Motor Vehicle Division. The management change is expected to bring the base revenue closer in line with the original FY 2010 Budget, while the registration hold program will add $750,000 above current levels
Licenses, Permits and Fees revenue is projected to be $4.1 million in FY 2011, or $250,000 below the FY 2010 Budget. Business Licenses and Permits will remain stable at $1.6 million and $1.9 million respectively. However, Fees, mostly comprised of parking meter revenue, have not been realized in the amount anticipated subsequent to the $.50 per hour increase in FY 2010. As a result, the $250,000 shortfall projected for the current year has been carried over to FY 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment