Alexandria is considering raising its parking meter fees for the first time in more than 15 years. City Manager James Hartmann’s proposed annual budget, which he presented to the City Council last week, includes a recommendation to double the hourly parking meter rate in the upper King Street portion of Old Town from 50 cents to $1.
Lower King Street, which currently has a 75-cent hourly parking rate, also would see an increase to $1.
Hartmann’s budget also recommends raising DASH bus fares from $1 to $1.25. Those rates also have not been raised in more than 15 years, Hartmann said.
The City Council last year approved installing parking meters in the new Carlyle section of Alexandria at a dollar-per-hour rate. Those meters are scheduled to be added in May.
“Now we’re going to catch up the rate to a dollar in the rest of Old Town,” said Bruce Johnson, the city’s director of the Office of Management and Budget.
The move is expected to generate an additional $700,000 in a tight budget year, Johnson said.
“We told the city manager in the fall, we know it’s going to be a tough budget year, look at every reasonable avenue you have for raising revenue without raising the property tax rate,” City Council Member Rob Krupicka said.
“I think it is reasonable we look at these fees. We should be reviewing fees on two- or four-year cycles so we don’t get in a situation where our fees are 20 years old.”
The City Council would have to pass a separate ordinance approving the increase for it to take effect.
Krupicka said city staff must show that the new parking rates would be competitive with rates in surrounding jurisdictions.
“I need to confirm that before I can feel comfortable with the jump,” he said.
