The Mayor Giveth, and the Mayor Taketh Away
City Hall has announced that once again this year, in accordance with tradition, meter parking will be free for the entire month of December. It's Hudson's gift to holiday shoppers and merrymakers.
It has also been announced that, starting not this weekend but next, the suspension of alternate side parking rules on weekends will come to an end. Beginning on Saturday, December 9, alternate side of the street regulations for overnight parking will be in force seven days a week. That means on Friday, December 8, your car must be parked overnight on the side of the street where house numbers are odd, because the date of the next day, December 9, is odd.
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If the city wanted to give a gift to actual residents they should keep the meters going through the busy holiday tourism and shopping season. People are coming here anyway, quarters be dammed. Instead of hating on tourists, I'd rather fleece them for the cash cow that they are. We should be looking for ways increase revenue from non-residents in the form of parking fees, sales and lodging taxes, etc. This helps shift the revenue burden from property taxes, which is one of the main drivers making Hudson unaffordable to homeowners and renters (via increased landlord costs).
ReplyDeleteIf you want to make parking free then do it in January or February, or both, when business is slow and visitors could use enticing. This is another one of those odd traditions that we do only for the sake of "it's always been done this way" but never "could we do it smarter?"
Agree completely. No visitors head to Hudson or return because parking is free for the holidays, and the bulk of quarters do come from visitors, not locals.
DeleteDid you know that the plastic bags that cover the meters on Warren in December are provided by, installed by, and removed by volunteers, not the city? Meters in the lots and side streets are not covered and visitors usually fill those meters because they are unaware of the change. Someone at City Hall recently told me that they wanted to purchase canvas bags that lock over meters when they are broken or free in December, but that there was no money available to do so. So someone else uses decorated plastic bags and bows (hopefully again this year), doing the job our city is not interested in doing.
Of course, there will also not be any meter violation tickets issued for the entire month (more lost revenue than the missing quarters by far), but you will still see 2 parking enforcement officers getting paid $20/hour walking up and down Warren 6 days a week with nothing to do, not even glancing at the meters.
Not to worry, though, there's a common council committee working to make parking matters sensible and profitable.