Higher Costs Prompt Parking Fee Increase
Updated November 7, 2008
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why are parking fees going up?
A: Sacramento State has not raised parking fees in 5½ years. Since then, our costs have risen along with costs across the nation. At the same time, our revenues have fallen short. The new fees are needed so we can keep up with the higher costs we are paying for gas and other expenses related to the safety, upkeep and operation of our parking facilities, as well as the debt payments for the construction of Parking Structure III.
Q: Can you budget more money for parking instead of charging higher fees?
A: No. By law, campus parking services must be self-supporting. Therefore, the sole source of revenue for parking operations is sales of parking permits.
Q: Why now?
A: To ease the impact on students as long as possible, the University has been using its Parking Fund reserves to help cover those expenses. The reserves will no longer be sufficient to cover future costs.
Q: Do students have the biggest increase in parking fee costs?
A: No. The per-semester increases for administrators, deans and members of the President’s Cabinet are increasing as much as or more than the off-campus student rate in dollar amounts. Faculty and staff permit fees are not controlled at the campus level. They are set by their collective bargaining agreements with the California State University.
- Since 2003, parking fee changes have included:
- Students: $108 per semester in 2003; $153 semester in 2009 = 42 percent increase.
- MPPs (Administrators): $24 a month in 2003; $44 in 2009 = 83 percent increase.
- Deans: $24 a month in 2003; $85 month in 2009 = 254 percent increase.
- President’s Cabinet: $24 a month in 2003; $120 month in 2009 = 400 percent increase.
Q: What are you doing to help students who are facing higher fees for tuition, higher costs for books, higher costs for gas, and now higher costs for parking?
A: Sacramento State is committed to supporting opportunities for alternative modes of transportation. University Transportation and Parking Services (UTAPS) provides the Hornet Express Shuttle for students who live in the neighborhoods surrounding campus. In addition, students’ ASI fees provide free use of Sacramento Regional Transit light rail and buses.
Q: Is the national credit crisis affecting the interest rate you’re paying on the Parking Structure III debt.
A: No. The interest rate ranges from 3 to 5 percent over the lifetime of the bonds we sold for construction.
Q: If you knew what the interest rate and payments would be, what is the reason for the increase?
A: We borrowed money and built Parking Structure III to alleviate parking shortages for our students, faculty, staff and visitors. The new parking structure financial plan included an eventual parking fee increase, as the debt payments for the new structure alone added $1.88 million in expenses for the 2007-08 fiscal year. Our plan to pay down the debt was based on the projected increase of student enrollment of 2 to 3 percent each year beginning in the 2006-07 academic year. However, enrollment grew slower than anticipated, so we are not seeing the expected increase in parking permit sales. Despite those challenges, we were able to freeze parking fees at the Fall 2003 rates.
Q: How did you determine the amount of the new fees?
A: The California State University Board of Trustees requires us to maintain a certain level of revenue in relation to our payments for construction debt. The new fees will allow us to remain in compliance with those regulations and continue to support the safety, upkeep and operations of our parking program until Parking Structure III is paid off.
Q: How has UTAPS cut back on its expenses?
A: UTAPS has deferred $2.5 million worth of maintenance projects, reduced travel, and cut day-to-day budget expenditures for staff and managers. It also has implemented on-line services such as permit purchase and citation payment and appeals to reduce need for additional staff.
Q: Are you issuing more tickets to make up for increased costs?
A: No. California Education Code regulations stipulate that the funds received from citations can only be used to support the citation collections and appeals program as well as promotion and support of alternative modes of transportation such as the Hornet Shuttle.
News Release
Faced with rising costs and revenue shortfalls due to slower than anticipated enrollment growth, Sacramento State will raise parking fees beginning Jan. 1, 2009.
It is the University’s first student parking fee increase in 5½ years. Current fees would be insufficient to offset expenses, including higher gas prices, contractually mandated increases in salaries and benefits, as well as the debt payments required for the construction of Parking Structure III. The debt payments for the new structure alone added $1.88 million in expenses for the 2007-08 fiscal year.
Sacramento State completed Parking Structure III in 2007 to alleviate parking shortages for students, faculty, staff and visitors. The financial plan for the project was based on 2 to 3 percent annual student enrollment growth, which would also increase permit sales. However, enrollment has not grown as quickly as anticipated.
University Transportation and Parking Services, which administers the parking program, is by law a self-supporting unit that receives no funding from the state. Therefore, UTAPS’s sole source of revenue for parking operations, construction, maintenance and safety is sales of parking permits.
“Since our last increase in Fall 2003, costs have increased for us just like they have everywhere else. The new parking fees will enable us to keep up and pay the debt on Parking Structure III,” says Stephen Garcia, the University’s vice president for Administration and Business Affairs. “To help our students, we held down the fees as long as possible by tapping into our parking fund reserves.”
The new fee also will ensure that Sacramento State remains in compliance with the net-income-to-debt ratio required by the California State University Board of Trustees. Dropping below the ratio could jeopardize the campus’ ability to secure debt for future non-state-funded projects.
Parking fees will be as follows beginning Jan. 1 or with the purchase of a Spring, 2009, semester permit:
- Students (including Residence Hall students) – increase from $24 a month to $34 a month (from $108 a semester to $153 a semester), with an additional 2 percent added each year beginning 2010.
- MPP (managers) and unrepresented employees – increase from $34 a month to $44 a month with an additional 2 percent added each year beginning 2010.
- Deans – increase from $69 a month to $85 a month with an additional 2 percent added each year beginning 2010.
- President’s Cabinet – increase from $100 a month to $120 a month with an additional 2 percent added each year beginning 2010.
- Faculty – $15.39 a month, as set by collective bargaining agreements.
- Staff – $15.06 a month, as set by collective bargaining agreements.
- Daily permit – increase from $5 to $6 a day.
Parking fees will be as follows beginning Sept. 1, 2009:
- Residence Hall students—increase from $34 a month to $44 a month (from $153 a semester to $198 a semester) with an additional 2 percent added each year beginning 2010.
UTAPS also serves the campus community by supporting opportunities for alternative modes of transportation, including the Hornet Express Shuttle, issuance of student commuter passes and sale of employee commuter passes to ride Sacramento Regional Transit light rail and buses.
For media assistance, contact Sacramento State Public Affairs at (916) 278-6156.