After complaints about fees, Parking Commission temporarily shuts down ParkMobile payments

CLARKSVILLE, TN – The Clarksville Parking Commission voted this week to temporarily suspend ParkMobile daily transactions, effective Tuesday, following complaints from the public about the app’s transaction fees.

In the agenda, City Parking Manager Michael Palmore brought up concerns from the public about the transaction fees after he previously made the operational decision to have ParkMobile charge $1 an hour for unlimited hours, according to a news release from city spokeswoman Linda Gerron.

“The current price structure ParkMobile has does not support the price structure we have for our downtown meters,” Palmore said. “In all transparency, I made the decision to have ParkMobile change the rate to $1 an hour, which is cheaper than what our community pays at the meter.”

Currently, the downtown meters charge 25 cents for the first hour and 15 minutes and $2 for each additional hour, with a daily max of four hours, the release said. Essentially, a customer would be paying a total of $6.25 for the limited four hours. This rate was the rate that existed before the city adopted the ParkMobile app.

The ParkMobile app charges $1 an hour for unlimited hours, plus a 35-cent fee for each transaction. For example, if a customer wanted to park for four hours, they would pay $4.35, the release said.

That results in almost $2 less in collections per customer at that rate, during a time when the Parking Commission is struggling to collect enough revenue.

However, a customer who wanted only an hour of usage would end up paying $1.35 through ParkMobile instead of 25 cents at the meter.

“I do want to apologize to the Parking Commission for making the change without consulting with them first,” Palmore said. “When you do the math, ParkMobile seems like the better option in terms of fees and convenience; however, I now realize that rates need to be discussed and approved by the members of the Parking Commission.”

The Parking Commission will hold a special session within the week to discuss the ParkMobile rate and determine if changes are needed, the release said. The temporary suspension does not affect the ParkMobile monthly transactions; customers can still pay for parking garages and continue to use metered on-street parking spaces.