I am writing in response to an item I saw in the Daily Record concerning the parking situation in Downtown Jacksonville:
"Another group affected by the recent rise in parking rates in City garages has let City Hall hear about it. The law firm of Moseley, Prichard, Parrish, Knight & Jones on West Bay Street has expressed its displeasure of having rates nearly double from $69.23 a month to $128.40. In a letter to Council President Kevin Hyde, partner Phillip Buhler said his firm has been using the Water Street Garage since it opened in the mid-1980s and said the firm finds the increase "unjustifiable and excessive." The firm leases 27 spaces and the increase will cost an extra $20,000 a year."
I believe there is additional information that should be included to get a clearer understanding of the parking situation in Downtown Jacksonville and the impact of the rates being charged.
The increase in parking fees may be interpreted as a tax increase or being unfair by some, but it is also justly defined as the elimination of a taxpayer-funded subsidy/discount that has been given to a select group for the past 15 years.
Also, it should be noted that there are still numerous options available to those who feel the increased cost is a burden they cannot absorb. The facilities impacted by the increases (Water Street Garage, Yates Garage and the Courthouse Parking Lot) all serve buildings located along either the Trolley or Skyway routes. In the case of the Water Street Garage, it is served by both. This provides the option for those currently paying the lower (subsidized) rate to actually "decrease" the amount they are now paying. There are also hundreds of parking spaces within a few blocks of each of the impacted parking facilities with rates from $20 to $35 a month. Again, an option to get parking at a rate below the current subsidized rate.
If the Water Street Garage were to lose 37 percent of its current parkers to the Skyway/Trolley, the net impact would be zero on the garage (630 parkers at $77.04 is about the same as 1,000 at $48.15), but there would be a net increase in revenues for the Skyway and Trolley and in return a reduction in the amount of subsidy required from tax dollars. That in turn opens spaces in the CBD that are then available to use for leasing up some of what is currently vacant office space.
There are pretax fringe benefit programs available to employers, IRS Code Section 132(f)(2)(B), that can actually make this a "cost neutral" increase for many parkers, or in some cases create a net gain in their take-home income. The tables below illustrate how by parking at a peripheral location versus driving into the core of downtown this could occur.
Saving 33 percent on parking in downtown
Jacksonville is a reality. Here's how it works:
Free Parking in Downtown Jacksonville
is a reality. Here's how it works:
Getting to Work in Downtown Jacksonville
Can Pay. Here's how it works:
** Based on EPA estimates for gas and maintenance only at average cost for a gallon of gas in a mid-size car averaging 20.5 miles per gallon
I guess my real point is we need to look at this as one small piece in a systematic approach to resolving the numerous issues surrounding parking in Downtown. It's been recommended as such in every study/report/paper involving parking since the Master Plan (I believe there have been about seven or eight since then).
As long as we take the other steps that have been recommended, then in the end everyone will come out ahead.
Hopefully this increase and the reaction to it will bring the overall issues to the forefront. Unfortunately, it has been my experience that parking is usually only discussed in a reactive sense rather than from a proactive stance.
-Mark Rimmer
Realistic Transportation Alternatives Inc.