The measure would help defray the cost of repairs to the building.
Those looking for cheaper parking Uptown could soon be out of luck.
Hourly fees in the Athens East Washington Street parking garage might increase from 50 cents an hour to 75 cents, Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl said.
The increase, which City Council members will vote on Monday, would pay for the garage’s repairs.
But the same city officials who sign off on the price increase won’t be affected.
Council members park for free in the city’s parking garage, as do other city employees.
The city has at least 60 employees who qualify for free parking in the garage, but Ron Lucas, Deputy Service-Safety Director, didn’t know how many of those employees take advantage of the perk. If all 60 employees utilized the free parking for nine hours on workdays, the city would lose $270 daily — $1,350 per workweek.
“The theory is it’s supposed to be used during work hours only,” Lucas said, adding that at 50 cents an hour, that equates to approximately $4.50 a day per individual if each employee works a nine-hour workday.
With the new fee, that figure would increase to $6.75 per person, per day, which means that the city would lose $405 daily or $2,025 per workweek on those employees who have free parking.
Athens County employees are also able to apply for passes at a rate of $45 per month.
Both Lucas and Wiehl said it was unlikely those people would lose their permits during garage construction.
The parking garage hasn’t been repaired since 2000, Mike Hinton, a representative from Burgess & Niple, which conducted a survey of the garage, said at a presentation during an Athens City Council meeting in January.
Hinton said repairs include those to the floor and ceiling, reapplication of deck coating and a complete rehabilitation of the garage’s elevator system, which was installed in 1970 and hasn’t since been repaired.
These repairs would total about $1.9 million, Council President Chris Knisely said.
She said, however, that paying the repairs off wouldn’t be easy.
“We have to finance the $1.9 million and make sure we’re generating enough revenue to pay off that debt,” Knisely said.
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Since the garage parking meters’ installation in 2001, Wiehl said the garage has generated about $288,000 in revenue a year. The projected revenue from parking meters this year is roughly $139,000.
Though the garage is already bringing in a hearty sum without the fee increase, Wiehl said, that isn’t enough to cover the additional loan the city would take out to pay for potential repairs.
“With our present cash flow, we can’t (pay the loan),” Wiehl said.
He added that though the garage makes decent revenue, as much as $200,000 of that goes toward yearly garage maintenance.
Knisely said the city’s best bet would be to secure a 15-year loan.
“The life of the building is 15 years,” Knisely said. “You don’t want to borrow for longer than the life of the building.”
The remaining $88,000 generated by current parking fees would not cover the $1.9 million loan, even if stretched over that period, Knisely said.
“We’re hoping that these increases will pay for (the loan),” Knisely said.
Wiehl said the increases would reflect the cost of parking at an Ohio University parking meter. He added the increases shouldn’t affect business at the city’s garage too much.
“The parking garage is pretty full most of the time,” Wiehl said. “We’re competitive. We’re cheaper than the university’s parking garage.”
To cover the cost of the loan and regular maintenance, Wiehl said the garage would have to generate about $220,000 in parking fees a year.
The cost of repairs will increase every winter the garage goes unattended, Hinton said.
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