CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – With the Parking Commission’s inability to enforce parking tickets in Clarksville, the parking enterprise fund has built up a deficit of more than $800,000 in uncollected fees and fines.

Four full-time parking staffers are paid through the Parking Enterprise Fund, according to City spokesperson Jimmy Settle. “The Parking Fund, in addition to covering employee wages, should cover all expenses for maintaining, repairing, and replacing parking facilities/garages, equipment, and parking-related technology,” he said.

Thanks to a lack of enforcement authority, that fund now has an $800,000 deficit, Settle told Clarksville Now.

The City has proposed abolishing the Parking Commission and putting parking enforcement under the Police Department, which would be able to better enforce ticket payment.

Downtown business owners call for free downtown parking

On the latest episode of Clarksville Conversations with Charlie Koon, downtown business owners Jeff Robinson, Andrea Herrera and Darla Knight discussed mounting frustrations over downtown parking and its impact on local commerce.

They complained about a confusing hybrid system involving inconsistent apps and meters, noting that the downtown district is the only area in the city where visitors are forced to pay for parking. They argue that excessive fines and a lack of enforcement authority discourages patrons, suggesting that Clarksville should follow the lead of cities like Franklin by offering free, regulated parking. 

| PREVIOUSLY: City Council takes up proposal to abolish Parking Commission, put enforcement under CPD

“I sent a letter to the City Council this morning asking them, ‘Hey, can you guys please defer this until the next administration comes in,” Robinson said. “Let the next administration set up an organized committee, or whatever structure the new mayor wants to put together. Take two or three or four months or whatever it takes to study it and have conversation and dialogue.

“Everybody may not agree with it in the end, but at least everybody had a voice in it, and everybody had a chance,” Robinson said.

The City Council will meet for their regular session meeting Thursday, June 4, at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers, 106 Public Square.

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