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City generates more than $20 million annually in parking tickets
Many feel East Side is targeted
By Stephanie Brien
“Anytime you have a lot of congestion, you are going to have a lot of problems and a lot of complaints,” said Dorinda Floyd of the Milwaukee DPW. “We deploy checkers citywide during the day; however, they are going to be deployed to areas where they have restrictions.”
Milwaukee generated more than $20 million dollars in parking ticket revenue in 2006, according to actual figures from the 2008 proposed budget.
In addition to parking tickets, the city collected more than $4 million from parking meters and more than $2.75 million from parking permits in 2006.
When Justin Dunn, a UWM senior, found out how much money the city collected from parking tickets, he was shocked after originally guessing $100,000.
Although on second thought, he realized he has helped contribute to that parking revenue. “They made at least $200 off me last semester,” Dunn said.
Looking at his watch and realizing he had parked in a one-hour parking spot for more than an hour, he added, “I guarantee I’m getting a ticket right now.”
Out of a survey of 10 random University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students, the most money anyone guessed the city made from parking tickets was $2 million, far less than the actual $20,444,892 made in 2006.
Out of the money collected, most of it goes back into the parking program for administration, employees, equipment, maintenance and utilities.
The city also does not actual make the full amount the ticket says since it costs $2.26 to process each citation.
Then a portion of the remaining revenue goes into the general fund for the city, said Dorinda Floyd, Milwaukee Department of Public Works administrative services director.
In 2006, $15.21 million in parking funds was transferred to the general fund and, in 2008 the transfer will likely increase to $17 million, according to the proposed budget.
While the transfer is not necessarily allocated to street maintenance, Floyd said people could think of that way since a portion of money in the general fund goes to pay for everything from new roads to street sweeping.
Majority of the parking revenue, however, does not go to hire additional parking checkers. Milwaukee employs 64 parking checkers, which totaled just over $2.25 million annually in 2006.
Floyd said, the Milwaukee Common Council did increase the number of parking checkers from 44 to 64 in 2001 after the department expressed concerns about the inability to properly patrol streets, but it has remained consistent since then.
There are 1,400 miles of city streets in Milwaukee, and, even with 64 parking checkers, Floyd said it is impossible to cover every street daily.
Considering the miles of streets in Milwaukee, many UWM students feel they are unfairly targeted.
On the East Side alone, 810 tickets totaling $24,300 were given out the first week of September for Residential Preferred Parking violations. The new program RPP started Sept. 4 and allows only residents with permits to park on one side of certain streets from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Besides complaints about RPP, other students said they have gotten tickets for everything from night parking tickets and time violations to parking too close to a driveway or crosswalk.
Mike Gish, a nontraditional UWM student returning for his second degree, lives downtown near Milwaukee School of Engineering, and said he has observed far more tickets given out on the East Side than around other parts of town.
“I think it’s excessive,” Gish said. “I think the standards could be relaxed around campus.”
Floyd said parking checkers are sent the East Side because of the high demand for parking and numerous city parking ordinances.
“Anytime you have a lot of congestion, you are going to have a lot of problems and a lot of complaints,” Floyd said. “We deploy checkers citywide during the day; however, they are going to be deployed to areas where they have restrictions.”
Jesse Bernhardt, a UWM graduate student, said he is not opposed to all of the parking regulations around campus. He wishes more people would utilize public transportation rather than complain about difficult parking. He said one of his friends takes the bus from Greenfield to UWM everyday. This saves him money on gas, and he avoids daily traffic, parking stress and parking tickets.
> Comments
UWM Alumni/UWM Neighborhood Resident on Oct 31, 2007 at 07:28 PM:
Dear UWM Post,
Thank you for addressing the parking issue in the neighborhood surrounding UWM. I am a property owner south of the campus (Stowell Avenue) and a UWM alumni. I see no need for the existence of 1 hour parking zones in our neighborhood; it makes no sense. Our neighbor Mr. D'Amato says it's to give all the students a chance to park close to the University. Crap! It's nothing more than a source of revenue generation (i.e. ticketing) for the City, and everybody knows it! So every hour we play musical chairs while Jim changes parking spots with Mary and Mary with Jim. We're talking about wasted time, wasted gasoline and the danger presented by students (sometimes) speeding through residential neighborhoods to find new parking spaces and get back to class. I'm hopeful that our next alderperson will institute 2, 3 or even 4 hour parking in our neighborhood.
UWM Alumni/UWM Neighborhood Resident 10/31/07