The recent rise in parking meter fees was not done to increase revenue but to make meter prices consistent throughout campus and in parking garages, Director of Public Safety Gene Burton said Wednesday.
"The decision was made with members of the university administration, Public Safety and finance offices," he said. "We were looking at short-term and visitor parking and trying to align meter rates so they are congruent with each other."
The meter prices were changed on a lot-by-lot basis between June 18 and July 5, he said. Current prices for most meters are $1 for 45 minutes, 75 cents for 36 minutes, 50 cents for 24 minutes and 25 cents for 12 minutes.
Previously, 45 minutes on the meter cost 50 cents. 25 cents paid for 22 1/2 minutes on the meter, 10 cents paid for nine minutes and 5 cents paid for 4 1/2 minutes.
Parking Services made no announcement of the meter changes prior to them taking place.
President Jo Ann Gora said she was not made aware of the changes before they occurred. She added, however, that campus affairs are delegated to many administrators and she does not always have final say in certain matters.
Parking Services Office Manager Nancy Wray did not return calls when she was in the office July 3. Parking Services employees said she was out of the office the rest of the week.
When attempts to reach Wray failed, a reporter found her in the Parking Services office Wednesday afternoon. There, Wray said she would call for a phone interview sometime between 4 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. No call from Wray was received and subsequent calls put in to the Parking Services office were not returned. A message left on her home answering machine Wednesday evening also went unreturned.
An All BSU Faculty and Staff e-mail notification was sent to the campus public folder on the afternoon of July 5, which was the day the Daily News first reported on the price increases. E-mails in the public folder do not appear in a user's regular Webmail inbox. The e-mail said that the changes had occurred in order to "equalize the parking rates in the parking garages and at the parking meters on campus" and included a table indicating the new meter prices.
Although Burton and the e-mail said the price changes were made in order to make prices consistent, fees for most meters on campus are still different than in the parking garage east of Bracken Library and the garage south of Sursa Performance Hall. In the garages, one hour costs $1, two hours costs $2, three hours costs $3, four hours costs $3.50 and five hours costs $4.
Senior Katie McGee said the new meter prices were "ridiculous" as she parked in the lot outside the Art and Journalism Building on Wednesday.
"[Students] get tickets all the time," she said. "Now, they raise meter prices as if they need more money."
Burton said the changes were also made in order to make meter times consistent between meters near residence halls and in other campus lots. Previously, meters outside dorms were set at a maximum time of 30 minutes but were changed to 45 minutes in accordance with other meters on campus.
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