BUDGET AND PLANNING COMMITTEE REPORT
October 11, 2005
The Budget and Planning Committee met September 23. The primary topic was parking revenues and expenditures. The Committee expressed its appreciation to Chancellor George and the administration for providing complete information about the parking finances.
Here are the major findings about parking finances:
1. Prior to 1992, faculty and staff had a set amount ($120 per year in 1992) deducted from their wages for parking. Beginning in 1993, this amount ($120 for each faculty and staff member) was deducted from the wage increase pool for that yea (thereby creating a lower pool for compensation increases) and placed into the parking account. Subsequently, additional amounts (which could have instead been used for compensation or other purposes) have been reallocated from general revenue and allocated to the parking fund. As of 2005-2006, this amount is $734 per faculty and staff member.
2. The decision about how much money to charge faculty and staff members and students is determined by an administrative decision about how much money is needed for parking structures and their maintenance. There have been comparable rates of increase for faculty/staff parking fees and student parking fees.
3. The proportion of students paying parking fees has declined substantially between Fiscal Year 1996 (83% paid) and Fiscal Year 2005 (56% paid). The decline in student participation was one of the factors which led to the imposition of a separate infrastructure fee (currently $2.50 per credit hour) on all students. This fee pays for the campus shuttle service and the Metro Pass for students.
4. For Fiscal Year 2005, parking revenues totaled $4,147,280 ($2,378,514 from student fees, $1,303,820 from faculty/staff fees, $372,538 from parking fines, $52,426 from Extension/Performing Arts Center attendees, and $39,982 from other sources). The operational expenses for parking (road/garage maintenance, parking enforcement, security, institutional support) for FY 2005 were $798,602. For FY 2005 and since FY 2002, the revenues have exceeded operating expenses by at least $3 million a year.
5. What happens to the $3 million-plus excess? About $2 million a year is needed for bond payments on the recently constructed parking garages. About another $400,000 must be allocated to the capital maintenance and reserve fund. The remainder, totaling about $3.7 million for FY2002 through FY2005, goes to the plant fund. Much of these monies have been spent on property acquisition ($1.3 million) for land on which new roads might be built and for road repairs and realignment.
The committee identified the following policy issues and plans to discuss them at a future meeting. The issues are:
A. Should faculty and staff have the same option as students to opt out of the parking fee program? If so, should their compensation be increased by the amount (currently $734 annually) presently being allocated to the parking fund?
B. Since constructing more parking structures obligates faculty/staff/students to pay additional parking fees, what role should campus governance play in deciding whether additional structures should be built?
C. Through the infrastructure fee, students are currently paying about $150,000 annually for the Metro Pass Program. This amount is highly likely to increase substantially over the next few years. What alternatives are there for a group public transportation fee and what governance mechanisms should be used to deliberate among these alternatives?
D. To what extent should parking fees be used for property acquisition and road realignment?
The Committee's next meeting is Friday, October 21, from 9:30 am to 11:30 am in JC Penney Room 78. The two principal agenda items will be updates on the Performing Arts Center finances and on economic development projects (Express Scripts and the proposed Technology Incubator).
Respectfully submitted,
E. Terrence Jones
Chair