Parking meter fees set to increase in San Diego: Here's how much

Yahoo

28-01-2025

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Starting next month, San Diegans will need to shell out a little more per hour to park in spaces with a city-operated meter.
On Monday, the San Diego City Council voted 8-1 to approve a hike to the rate charged at parking meters in the city as a means to help close the projected $260 million budget deficit heading into the next fiscal year.
The increase doubles the cost for drivers to park in metered spaces — for most, this will change fees from $1.25 per hour to $2.50 per hour. The new rates are set to go into effect on Feb. 1.
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San Diego officials have been discussing upping parking meter fees as a potential avenue for increasing revenue to aid in the city's budget woes since the one-cent sales tax measure, Measure E, failed to pass during last year's election.
The tax increase would have brought in an estimated $360 million to $400 million annually for the city, effectively wiping out the current structural deficit.
Now, San Diego leaders are taking a more piecemeal approach to find ways to make up the difference with the hopes of avoiding steep cuts to essential city services.
'If we do not take action, we are looking at cutting employees,' Councilmember Henry Foster III, who brought forward the parking meter fee action, said during Monday's council meeting. 'We owe it not only to our employees, but also to the public, in which they are the ones that provide the services that improve the quality of life of our residents.'
The parking fee increase, the city's independent budget analyst says, will boost city funds by an additional $4 million during the remainder of the current fiscal year and $10 million in each year moving forward.
Typically, a portion of the revenue from parking meters goes to parking districts to use on projects improving walkways and crosswalks, among other things. The remainder goes towards the city's general fund.
Additional revenue may come from further policy changes Mayor Todd Gloria's office is expected to propose in the coming months. This may look like extensions to meter hours or implementation of pricing based on demand.
However, the parking meter fee increase — and any other changes — will likely not impact every part of San Diego evenly, given that the vast majority of metered spaces operated by the city are concentrated in only a handful of neighborhoods.
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According to city staff, nearly 90% of all of the city's metered parking spaces are either in downtown or uptown neighborhoods, like North Park and Hillcrest.
Councilmember Vivian Moreno, who was the sole vote against the fee increase, also raised concern about the disproportionate impact upping the cost of parking will have on low-income communities in her district and others in the city.
'With this proposal, we're telling people in District 8 that when they plan to take a trip to downtown or Pacific Beach with their family, that we now expect them to pay twice as much to park their car,' she said. 'That alone can make them rethink that trip.'
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