Advisory board helps lower E.B. parking fee increase
Monthly fees will rise but not as much as was initially proposed
By vincent todaro
Staff Writer
EAST BRUNSWICK — Bowing to pressure from the Commuter Parking Advisory Committee, township officials are lowering the proposed parking fee increases for the two park-and-ride locations in town.
The Township Council voted unanimously Monday to introduce a new ordinance that carries lower increases. Numerous members of the parking committee were in attendance and applauded the council for making the change.
Councilman David Stahl said the change was the result of a recent meeting with members of the advisory group.
If the increases are adopted, residents would pay $20 a month for a parking permit at the Transportation and Commerce Center, and $25 at Neilson Plaza. Nonresidents would pay $40 for a permit at the transportation center and $55 at Neilson. Daily parking rates at each would be $3. In June 2004, the rate at Neilson would rise to $4.
A scrapped ordinance that was introduced in July called for increases that would have been $5 more per month for residents. The initial plan called for the same daily rates as the ones currently proposed, and for the same monthly rates for nonresidents.
Both parking facilities are township-owned and located on Route 18.
Stahl and Mayor William Neary have argued that the fee increases are needed to bolster the utility’s reserves. That account, needed in case of an emergency expenditure, has dwindled from about $1.5 million in 1998. It was projected the account would actually be in the red by the end of 2004.
Stahl said he wanted to make sure the utility could pay off the $1.15 million recently borrowed for maintenance work at Neilson.
The township’s finance director, L. Mason Neely, said the reserve has decreased due to the "stabilized" parking rates of recent years. As a result, the total revenues of the utility, which is supposed to be self-sufficient, have not kept up with operating costs. That left the utility turning to the reserves to make up the cost difference.
The rate increases will restore the reserves to about $150,000, or 6 percent, of the total utility budget, Neely said. He said the 6 percent balance is adequate.
In addition, he said the increases will allow the utility to pay back the $1.15 million borrowed for the Neilson work. That money will be paid back over a 10-year period.
Stahl said the changes demonstrate that the council and administration do not make their decisions prior to getting public input, nor do they set their ideas in stone.
While numerous members of the committee have attended council meetings to discuss the increases, very few other commuters have.
At Monday’s meeting, several committee members and other commuters were on hand to speak to the council. One commuter told the council that the new rates are more palatable than the originally proposed increases. He also suggested the utility could raise more revenue by allowing advertising at the facilities, noting that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey uses advertising.
Ed Miller, Marc Tauber and Howard Neuman were among the committee members who thanked the council for the changes, as well as for taking the time to meet with the committee.
Current prices for monthly permits at the transportation center are $10 per month for residents and $25 for nonresidents. At Neilson they are $20 for residents and $35 for nonresidents.
At recent council meetings, some parking committee members argued no increases were necessary for the health of the utility. Some members were upset by what they described as the council’s reluctance to answer questions regarding how much is needed in the fund balance and how much additional revenue would have been raised by the increases.
Tauber said he felt the governing body was rushing the ordinance through without having all of the facts and figures available.
Still at issue is the nearly $500,000 a year paid in rent by three businesses adjacent to the transportation center, which they use for parking. Saying all township taxpayers were "subsidizing" a utility that a small percentage of taxpayers use, some officials have questioned whether the utility should continue to get that rent money.
Members of the parking committee have argued that other entities in the township, such as the Crystal Springs Aquatic Center, are also "subsidized" by the township as a whole.
"Other entities in town are subsidized," Stahl said, "but I cannot recall any entity subsidized to the tune of half a million dollars."
He said the rate increase will ensure the financial stability of the utility through 2006 or 2007.
A public hearing on the new ordinance is scheduled for the Aug. 25 council meeting.