HARRISBURG, Pa. — The City of Harrisburg has not received any direct revenue from its parking meters over the last several years, as parking has decreased in the city since the pandemic.
The city partners with parking operator SP Plus and parking manager Trimont, which took over Harrisburg's parking operation in 2013.
The companies made regular multi-million dollar payments to the city when parking numbers were higher. However, when parking decreased following the pandemic, the companies could not generate revenue to offset their expenses and the so-called waterfall payments stopped.
"Think of the City of Harrisburg as the bottom of a bucket," said city communications director Matt Maisel. "You've got the parking revenue up top here. And once that overflows money-wise, it gets the next bucket, and we're at the bottom. If they're not filling that first bucket, we're not getting anything other than the 20% tax revenue. So that's where we're at right now and not receiving any of the revenue from the parking."
Maisel says there has been a lack of communication between the city and the leaders of SP Plus and Trimont. The two companies have projected increases in parking rates to offset the loss of revenue, but any increase must be approved by the city council.
"It's not fair to the city residents who ended up having to pay for this parking ultimately," Maisel said. "They want to know more about what's going on. Mayor Williams, even going back to her time as council president, has been trying to schedule meetings with the people who oversee this parking situation and has not been able to. The city deserves better from the people overseeing its parking."
Maisel says the lack of parking revenue has not hurt the city, which he says has made up for it through federal post-pandemic funding and an increase in Earned Income Tax revenue.
Trimont said in a statement to FOX43 that any projected rate increases are for planning purposes only until approved by the city council.