At last night's Common Council Safety Committee meeting, Captain David Miller of the Hudson Police Department reported on the situation with parking. He acknowledged that some people feel the changes in parking are not beneficial but assured the committee that parking, now overseen by HPD, is "working great."
The HPD took over management of the Parking Bureau six months ago. To demonstrate that the Parking Bureau was running more efficiently and more profitably, Miller compared revenue figures from that third and fourth quarters of 2024 and 2025. The income from parking during those two quarters in 2024 was $555,395; during the same period in 2025, the revenue was $649,256--an increase of 17 percent. Miller also reported that in December, 1,322 parking tickets were issued, 1,883 tickets were paid, and 13 cars were booted, resulting in total revenue from parking for December of $101,413.47.
The video of the entire Safety Committee meeting can be viewed here.
COPYRIGHT 2026 CAROLE OSTERINK
It seems to me that the only data we need to understand if the new parking payment system is working well are these two things: How many meter violation tickets (not "parking tickets") did enforcers issue in a certain month compared to the previous year's same month. (And how many were paid.)
ReplyDeleteAnd how much in parking kiosk/app/scan revenue was taken in in a certain month as compared to the meter revenue from the same month a year prior.
Miller makes no distinction between parking tickets and meter violation tickets, so there's no way to know if his claims about the new system are at all accurate. Practically every night of the week, as they've done forever, HPD issues overnight parking tickets. Are those included in this data? They shouldn't be.
And what about all the costs of the new system that never get mentioned? New Parking Bureau with a paid supervisor. Vehicle for enforcers. Signs (so many signs!). Kiosks (including service fees, warranties from manufacturer). Police Chief and Captain's time. New handheld ticket machines. Do any of these costs matter? No, not if you approach things so unprofessionally and simplistically.
ReplyDeleteThe data is in:
ReplyDeleteQ3 and Q4 2025 saw a $90k revenue jump over 2024, with December alone up $15k. This happened even with a two-month free parking grace period.
It turns out that when HPD actually enforces the code by booting, processing appeals, and following up on delinquencies, the "shortfall" disappears.
Two months ago the City was in uproar with a Kamal swept up FB mob over a $250k budget gap, yet now that HPD is closing that gap simply by.... doing their jobs, it is total silence.
Following the law should be the standard, not a surprise. Imagine this, but in every department.
Maybe Hudson needs fewer PhDs and more HPD?
Think we're flush with Ph.D.s in office around here? Huh. I don't get that impression.
DeleteFair point on the office holders...
DeleteWe were joking / thinking more of the PhD 'expert' consultant class, donor industrial circuit, and the Substack story tellers who seem to drive, nay, make space, for the narrative from the sidelines, while HPD does the heavy lifting with no victory laps.
Carole -- I can't watch the entire video. But did Capt. Miller say what "revenue" is? Is it realized funds or accounts receivable? If the latter, I'd like to know going forward how many tickets are written to out-of-state plates compared to in-state. Historically, the City has been unable to efficiently (or, in many cases, even inefficiently) collect on out-of-state violators. Otherwise, we may be budgeting uncollectible or highly discounted "cash."
ReplyDeleteHe did not specify but gave the distinct impression that is was realized funds. The numbers--1,322 tickets issued and $1,883 tickets paid--suggest that, because fines on 1,322 tickets would be way more than $1,883. If you have a minute to spare, you can listen to what Captain Miller said for yourself. The video of the meeting is now on YouTube, and the relevant part begins at 32:50 and ends at 34:06.
DeleteRemember, John, to look for the Safety Committee meeting, not the meeting of the Parking Committee, which doesn't exist. Also, keep in mind that the sole purpose of HPD's Parking Bureau is to collect parking revenue and that neither of the two employees working for the bureau were at the parking safety meeting to give an update on parking revenue (or safety). Police brass are collecting that revenue information and passing it on to the council, like a game of telephone, and we all know how well that always ends. Captain Miller is not responsible for parking revenue; new Parking Bureau supervisor and still police clerk Doreen Danforth is. Captain Miller is responsible for parking safety, I guess. Or signs and kiosks. Or all 3 (it's difficult to know for sure) And also the occasional effort at law enforcement when parking safety doesn't get in his way.
DeleteIf you don't ask questions of the right people, or you listen to the wrong people, you'll make yourself mad trying to get at the truth and reality, and you likely won't ever arrive there. And you'll waste a lot of your time. And, to a lesser degree, their time, too!.Not that they care.
It's unfortunate that the barometer of the success of a project these days is how much more money can be picked from the pocket of the public and transferred to the government purse. It's just another tax like the sidewalk fee and anything else that can be dreamed up to rake in more money.
ReplyDeleteI've had a business on the 100 block of Warren for 20 years, and the people down here, businesses and residents alike, do not want this additional tax imposed on them. From the looks of it they are boycotting the block, as it looks deserted. There is also a marked reduction of business foot traffic.
I was over at Hannaford on Route 9 last week and overheard people in conversation talking negatively about avoiding Hudson referring to the ticketing and parking signs. It's certainly not enhancing the image of "The Friendly City." Surely there are more creative ways to balance a budget than acquiring revenue from ticketing and parking fees.
The Parking Study Committee, and whoever dreamt it up, decided there was a problem that didn't actually exist: "We're not making enough money from parking." It was just as perverse as Code Enforcement saying, "We're not making enough money on building permits, so we need to raise the fee." Had the city remained with meters, bought ones that accepted cards, and raised the fee of a meter violation ticket to a still reasonable by all municipal standards of $15 or $20, we wouldn't be in this mess. Ask any parking professional where the money is made and they will tell you it's from tickets, not the revenue from paid parking spaces. No one at HPD seems to understand this. Nor did Jen Belton or Tom Depietro.
ReplyDelete