A bureaucratic mess has left thousands of dollars generated by higher parking meter fees idling in District coffers rather than with a slate of programs that benefit low-income city residents, as the D.C. Council directed.
The council in December raised all $1-per-hour meters to $2, and all other meters by 25 cents. The emergency bill directed Mayor Adrian Fenty to route the additional revenue, an estimated $5 million in fiscal 2009, to three housing assistance programs and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families — plus $1 million for the O Street Market project in Shaw.
“The money cannot be used for any other purpose,” Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham, who wrote the bill, told The Examiner on Thursday. “It’s protected for the enunciated purposes.”
But the money is in limbo.
All 16,500 D.C. meters will reflect the higher rates by next week. In February, when just a handful of meters were upgraded, the city generated an additional $41,633 over the same month last year.
Fenty supported the rate increase, but opposed earmarking the money. He wanted the cash directed to the Department of Transportation, he told the council in December.
Graham’s bill ordered Fenty to submit a plan, called a supplemental budget, by Jan. 5 that allocates the additional meter revenue to the various low-income programs. The mayor has not yet offered the legislation, though he eventually must in order to close the city’s 2009 revenue shortfall.
In that measure, Fenty might attempt to shift the meter revenue back into the general fund to help fill the gap. One mayoral aide called
the situation “tricky,” and said no decisions have been made.
In his proposed 2010 budget, which the council is now considering, Fenty has redirected all meter revenue to DDOT. The rate increases are expected to generate $15.5 million next year for the agency’s budget, DDOT Director Gabe Klein told the council.
“I am as committed to this as I was when I introduced this,” said Graham, who ran down a list of legislative options to protect his earmarks.
Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans, in whose ward the vast majority of meter revenue is collected, said the O Street Market must get its $1 million, or he’ll fight to revert the rates.
“One million for O Street,” Evans said Thursday, “or nothing for nobody.”
