A.G. Gancarski
The parade of departmental budget reviews in Jacksonville’s Mayor’s Office continued Wednesday with a consideration of budgets for the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA).
The highlights:
- A discussion of public parking, now under the purview of the DIA, revealed a restructuring of funds: off-street parking was never solvent, so on-street parking had to make it whole. The funds have been combined for actuarial purposes.
- Revenues are up, thanks in part to an increase in monthly parking fees at the Water Street Garage.
- Gate control costs at garages are an issue. 3M no longer supports the current system. Budget was allocated for new gate control systems last year, but it will take until this upcoming fiscal year to close the deal.
- A $100,000 parking study will be deferred, likewise, until the next fiscal year. Two proposals were submitted via RFP, but DIA head Aundra Wallace wasn’t comfortable with them. One proposal had too ambitious a scope; the other proposal was not germane to the scope of services needed. Desired: an understanding of “the most efficient way to look at parking downtown itself.” CFO Mike Weinstein expressed curiosity about the capacity of parking needed to meet current demand downtown. CAO Sam Mousa suggested parameters for the study, such as needs for parking garages. Wallace noted that “other cities I’ve visited have much more efficient parking than we do ourselves.”
Good news: there is no more debt on city parking garages, except for the library parking garage, which is a Better Jacksonville Plan project.
On to enhancements: A discussion of $379,000 purchases of CCTV cameras for Ed Ball Building, the Yates Garage, and the public library led to a larger discussion of security measures in general. Parking garage security, said Mousa, was a function of revenue paid by users.
