Mobile parking app transaction fees start Tuesday

Parking Services Operating Deficit Leads to Mobile Transaction Fees

On-street parking mobile app payments will include a convenience fee.

Kirstin Davis, (509) 625-7773

Friday, October 28, 2022 at 3:43 p.m.

City of Spokane Parking Services has racked up $3.9 million in lost revenue due to COVID response and recovery since 2020. Effective Tuesday, Nov. 1, the city will pass transaction fees on to street parking customers using mobile app for payment. . Paid street parking customers using the ParkMobile mobile app will be charged a transaction fee of 35 cents per parking session. Credit and debit card payments on new devices and coin payment on old and new devices will not include transaction fees.

The parking services department is self-funded and not covered by taxpayers’ money. On-street, business permits, reservations, residential and infraction revenues fund parking service equipment, staff and operations. This includes hardware, technology infrastructure, system management, enforcement, and responding to neighborhood parking complaints. Policy decisions contributing to lost revenue include suspending paid on-street parking between March and May 2020 and replacing approximately 74 paid spaces with ten-minute free parking to accommodate curbside services in response to impacts of COVID.

“Parking services have had a perfect storm with the impacts of the pandemic and annual debt service,” says Steve MacDonald, director of community and economic development. “We had to dig deep to find solutions and we go through mobile app transaction fees like most other cities do. We will consider other revenue options while continuing to make up the shortfall.

What does this mean for parking customers?

Each mobile app payment session at a street meter will include a transaction fee of 35 cents in addition to the hourly parking rate. For example, if a customer parks at the two-hour meter for one hour and pays with the mobile app, they will pay $1.20 + 35 cents for a total of $1.55 for the one-hour session. However, if the customer extends the time at this counter within the time limit set via the mobile app, no additional transaction fees will be charged. Credit or debit card and coin payment methods do not require transaction fees and therefore will not be passed on to customers.

Spokane’s paid on-street parking customers have embraced paying through mobile apps at a much faster rate than most cities nationwide. Transaction fees come with mobile app parking sessions. This is a common and industry standard for transaction fees, which is considered a convenience to be paid by the user. This strategy provides a level of equity throughout the parking system by directing more of the revenue to improvements in the downtown core, not to absorbing user convenience fees. The City of Spokane, by passing on transaction fees, is eligible for a Parking Services Revenue Sharing Opportunity to invest 10 cents of each transaction fee in service expenses. This should result in a positive impact of $252,000 on the operating budget for future years to help cover the deficit.