Rate increase proposed for parking decal prices

"BOT to determine future parking prices"

Raquel Manning
Contributing Writer

The cost of parking passes could increase in the fall semester for the University of North Florida if the Board of Trustees approves an expected proposal by the UNF parking committee later this month.

The proposal calls for a cost increase of 5-7 percent for general parking, housing and discount lot passes, and an increase of 9 percent for premium, reserved and first-through-third-floor garage passes.

The proposal is a revised version of an earlier proposal that would have raised parking ticket fines to $50 and raised housing pass costs to premium pass prices.

The earlier proposal was approved by the UNF parking committee and administration but was rejected when Student Government argued the increase was unfair to students, said Tom Foran, UNF student body president.

“We worked very, very hard on this issue to really try and keep parking fair for students, and we voiced our concern to administration,” Foran said.

Foran explained that more than 90 percent of parking spaces on campus are used by students, but the UNF parking committee is comprised of only one-fourth students and three-fourths faculty and administration.

“All three students on the committee voted against the first proposal but were out-voted,” said Jared Callahan, UNF student body vice president and vice chair of the parking committee.

Once the proposal reached administration, however, it was sent back for revision due to Student Government’s dissatisfaction, Callahan said. The current proposal is scheduled to be discussed and voted on at the Board of Trustees meeting Jan. 26.

If approved, there will be no increase in parking ticket fines, but an increase in parking pass costs for the fall term. However, some students say that unless there is a guarantee of better parking, prices should not be raised.

Natalia Balabaeva, sophomore business management major, also agrees that prices should not be raised.

“I think it’s really unfair,” Balabaeva said.

Balabaeva does agree that the revised proposal is better for students than the original proposal, because there is no increase in parking ticket fines, but she said parking pass prices are already too expensive.

“They should build more of the general parking,” Balabaeva said.

According to Foran and Callahan, however, the only revenue that can be used to improve parking is the revenue generated from parking pass sales and parking-related revenues.

“We can’t spend Student Government money or money that the university receives from the state to fix parking,” Foran said.

Callahan said the reason for the revenue increase is that the university plans to build a parking garage by Lot 18 as part of UNF’s Master Plan. He said the Master Plan calls for nearly all of the current parking lots in the core of the campus to be eliminated for building purposes, so there must be an increase to purchase new parking.

“While unpleasant, the changes are necessary to have a better parking situation on this campus,” Callahan said.

Also as part of the Master Plan, UNF is attempting to fund a shuttle system that would take students from one end of campus to the other. Although a shuttle system needs board approval, Foran said that the issue is being discussed, and the university is trying to find a cost effective way to bring a shuttle system to the campus to improve the parking situation.

To have better parking, however, Foran said there must be an increase in parking pass prices.

“It’s necessary to make parking better on campus in the future.”



E-mail Raquel Manning at uspinnak@unf.edu.