
October 28,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood
Ridgewood NJ according to Village Chief Finance Officer Bob Rooney the Walker Report will suggest Ridgewood needs an increase in parking fees and extend parking hours to cover the cost of a down payment for a parking garage on Hudson Street .
The Ridgewood parking utility , if you are a real old timer you may remember the meters were originally installed to provide funding for a garage back in the late 1960’s .
At Wednesdays Village Council meeting the council heard Village Chief Finance Officer Bob Rooney offer some cold hard facts regarding alternative revenue sources to offset the expected $11 million bond, including a $550,000 down payment, needed to cover garage construction costs.
Increased parking rates come as no surprise for most residents , because since 2007 the Village has conceded that in order to build a garage. The Village last raise rates in 2015 at the urging of the defunct FAC or Financial Advisory Committee . The previous administration led by Mayor Aronsohn had parking rate increases as one of the cardinal feature of building their, “Garagezilla”.
According to Rooney ,the parking utility will only break even this year do to the excessive use of the parkmobile app with takes a 30 percent transaction fee on all transactions , fortunately the contract is up early next year in February and the Village will be bidding out looking for a far more satisfactory deal. The current deal was negotiated by the previous Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld . Since May 2015 the village has paid parkmobile $143,000 in fees.
Assuming a cost of 11,000,000 for the garage ,the Village would need $550,000 as a down payment .
Rooney also suggested that a financial feasibility study being done by Walker Parking Consultants is expected to advise higher meter rates and longer hours. Without that, Rooney warned, an increase in the utility budget ie a tax increase would be needed to finance the garage downpayment.
The new new Walker study is expected to advise meter rates of $1 per hour between Broad and Walnut streets downtown, and 75 cents elsewhere. Parking is now free after 6 p.m., but the study is expected to suggests pushing that 8 or 9 p.m.
Rooney also added that a new parking Kiosk will be in operation shortly before thanksgiving witch can except credit cards and while there are trans action fees they are far less than parkmobile .
The law of diminishing returns suggest that the Village maybe quickly nearing a tipping point with parking fees , where higher parking fees will cut into demand for parking in the Central Business District . The Village maybe betting that increased space for commuters and spill over parking from the four new high density projects in the Village will fill the parking spaces , but that once again leaves the merchants with no net gain .