By Daily Press staff
(Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures which appear on the upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agenda. Consent agenda items are routinely passed by the city council with little or no discussion from elected officials or the public. However, many of the items have been part of public discussion in the past.)
By Daily Press staff
In addition to the millions of dollars made in parking tickets and meters, the city takes brings in plenty of cash from parking lots as well.
The pay-to-park structures along Second and Fourth streets and the lots along the beach and elsewhere are expected to generate $11.4 million for the cash-strapped city next year.
That figure easily offsets the $2.5 million the City Council agreed last week to give Standard Parking Corp. to renew their contract to run the city’s parking operations for another year. The city also spends $775,000 a year in maintenance, utilities and rent for the lots.
The city has seen a 29 percent increase in annual parking revenue since awarding Standard Parking the contract in 2000. The increase amounts to an extra $2.5 million.
Before 2000, parking facilities in Santa Monica were operated independently.
Even though the bid made by Standard Parking was not the lowest, Mayor Richard Bloom said the city decided to consolidate the job under them because they included several additional services.
Standard Parking provides a manager that has increased revenue and maximized the amount of available parking spaces by making sure that signs are promptly put up and taken down when decks fluctuate near their capacity, among other things, Bloom said.
According to a city document prepared by planning director Suzanne Frick, the “The current operating contract includes measures that have improved management of traffic flow in and out of facilities during peak periods, as well as revenue collection and auditing capability, and customer care.”
Also on Tuesday, the City Council approved a $113,000 per year, five-year extension of the lease for 2121 Cloverfield Boulevard, where the city’s housing authority offices are, and $30,000 in tenant improvements to that property.
The housing authority has grown over the years. Because there is no additional space in City Hall, the city had to acquire an additional 1,170 square feet at the Cloverfield Boulevard offices, according to documents.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 14, 2003. Read the original PDF.