CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – According to a financial report presented to City Council members at their Tuesday meeting, the Clarksville Parking Commission spent more than they made in both 2020 and 2021.
The presentation by city Chief Financial Officer Laurie Matta showed that the Parking Commission operated at a loss in 2020 as well 2021, and is expecting to be in the red for 2022 as well.
In the 2020 fiscal year, the loss was $7,036. In 2021, it was $18,205. This year’s city budget predicts an additional $197,527 loss in the 2022 fiscal year.
Why the losses?
The Parking Commission, formerly the Parking Authority, made multiple changes in 2014, including adding new parking sensors and implementing a “first-hour-free” program.
Matta told council members the first-hour-free program has made it difficult for the city to collect fines: People have gotten used to either limiting their time downtown to an hour, or moving their vehicles each hour to avoid paying.
“That really cost us significantly year over year, and our operating costs continued to increase,” Matta told Clarksville Now.
While the city did away with first-hour-free last July, Matta said the COVID-19 pandemic kept people at home and out of downtown, slowing 2020’s parking revenue.
The city has also experienced issues with the parking sensors purchased in 2014. They are prone to malfunction in winter weather; cold weather put too much strain on the units’ batteries, and layers of ice disable the motion sensors.
“At one point, we had less than 50% of our meters functioning,” Matta said. “They had only been used in Arizona before.”
Changes in downtown parking
As of July 2020, the city has done away with both the parking sensors and the first-hour free program, and it has contracted with Premier Parking to oversee parking management.
According to Matta, the city is in discussions with Premier for the construction of a new downtown parking garage. While a deal has not yet been finalized, it is likely that a single-purpose entity formed by Premier Parking and the Nashville-based TRC Engineering would construct and manage a new garage.
The new entity would own and operate the garage for a contracted period while paying the city for use of the land. Following a contracted period, the city would assume ownership of the facility. Matta said the deal would allow the city to open a much-needed parking garage with no direct cost to taxpayers.
She said the deal would likely be similar to that made between the city and Liberty Park Grill, which sits on city land but is owned and operated by a private business.
“We all know we need a garage. We need more parking downtown,” Matta said. “If we are able to move with this agreement where they build the parking garage for us and we turn everything over. I’m sure they would be self-sufficient at that point.
“If it stays the way it is now, I honestly have no idea if we would bring in enough money to support (the Parking Commission’s) operations.”
Matta added that the Parking Commission would still be responsible for setting parking rates, as required by the City Charter.
City spokesperson Richard Stevens added that the city is working with Premier Parking to develop a new parking app for downtown, though a deal has not yet been finalized.
“We’re basically at the point where we’re writing the contract and making sure everybody is happy. We are very interested in a new parking garage, and this is a way can do it without generating debt for our city,” Stevens said. “We’re gonna make a good deal for the city. … We need parking for the MPEC and the changes that are happening in downtown.”
Council members will vote tonight on the Parking Commission budget for the 2021 fiscal year. The meeting will be held at City Council Chambers at 4:30 p.m.