Santa Barbara could see its parking fund ‘go negative’ without changes soon

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Parking meters and other changes to raise funds from drivers in downtown Santa Barbara may be a reality in the near future to help solve a growing finance problem.

The parking revenues now are going the wrong way with expenditures out pacing the income.

A city presentation a few weeks ahead of budget decisions, reveals a $7-million city deficit and a potential future deficit in the parking department of $3-million.

Santa Barbara City Finance Director Keith DeMartini said this week, if a rate structure is not approved and operations stay the same, "they will basically are projected to deplete all of their reserves by the end of the next fiscal year." Then the general fund would have to be use to subsidize the parking program and that would carry a burden of $3-million on the city's main budget fund which is already stressed.

The parking fee changes include a drop in the free time period in parking garages from the current 75 minute free period to 60 minutes free with a $2-dollar an hour fee after that.

For surface lots it would be 15 minutes for free and $1.50 for each half hour after that.

DeMartini said in a presentation showing a chart graph with a red line indicating the deficit, "as you can see the red line is outpacing the green line indicating that we do have a deficit and that deficit is growing as the years go on."

Specifically for the parking department, "They will basically are projected to deplete all of their reserves by the end of the next fiscal year and go negative."     

We talked to drivers in downtown Santa Barbara where the paid parking lots are located.

Hearing that the 75 minute free parking period could be shrunk to 60 minutes for free at the garages  then a fee of $2.00 an hour, it made some drivers tap the brakes and give it some thought.

Santa Barbara resident Greg Hughes said,  "60 minutes, $2.00 an hour. I don't like it. I think, you know, there's so much to do in downtown Santa Barbara. 75 minutes is already pushing it. I think 60 would be a disservice for sure. "

Compared to a larger city with much higher parking fees Santa Barbara's plan has a unique aspect to it. You would have a cap of just $10.00 for all day parking.  

Santa Barbara Resident Malcolm Tuffnell said  "yeah, I'm I'm just I'm not really excited about, changing the parking structure as far as, like, less time ."  

Saud Khativ walks downtown most of the time and hearing of more changes he was quick to say, "So they're turning almost LA now. "

The city's budget issues will be part of a community wide outreach to explain what's going on with parking fees and every other department that might have cuts or changes.

One resident says it may not keep or encourage the flow of visitors if the fees are uncomfortable.

" I am sure they are going to hear that it's hard to park," said Khativ.

Downtown parking meters have also been suggested on streets in the core downtown area as a new way to generate an income. That revenue would go directly into the city's parking budget.

The target area would be from Gutierrez St. to Arrellaga St. and from Chapala St. to Anacapa St.

Tuffnell said, "I have two problems with parking meters. That's like Los Angeles, where you kind of the Los Angeles-ization of Santa Barbara, and you have to have change (or a credit card), and you have to rush back to the meter."    When he learned it can be remotely changed with a phone app to add time, he produced a flip phone that does not have that feature.

 His real worry was what changes in parking fees  would do to businesses at a time when the trend is sputtering.

"They're charging, you know, people to,  more to park downtown or they're given less time. And I see all these all these empty stores," he said.

As this is going on, the city is working to revitalize downtown with a Master Plan, improvements to De la Guerra Plaza and coordinated events with the Santa Barbara Downtown Organization. That includes vibrant First Thursday events, the upcoming Art and Wine tour in May and the Tuesday Farmers' Market in the heart of the State Street promenade.

The city will be doing community outreach and said in this statement:

On April 22, 2024, the City of Santa Barbara issued its recommended operating and capital budget for Fiscal Years (FY) 2025 (July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025), as required by the City Charter. The recommended budget includes an introductory budget message from the City Administrator, revenue and expenditure details by fund and department, capital priorities, and performance indicators.

The Santa Barbara City Council will review and receive presentations from staff regarding the recommended budget throughout May and June during the following, scheduled meetings:

• April 23, 2024, 2 p.m. – Introduction of the Recommended Budget and Budget Overview
• April 30, 2024, from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. – Finance Committee’s initial review of the Downtown Parking Budget
• May 7, 2024, from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. – Finance Committee’s initial review of the budget
• May 14, 2024, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. – General Fund Budget, including Measure C Capital
• May 21, 2024, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. – All Other Funds Budget, including Capital
• June 4, 2024, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. – Budget Deliberations

The Santa Barbara City Council is scheduled to take action on the recommended budget during the regularly scheduled meeting on June 11, 2024, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

“Staff is pleased to present the Fiscal Year 2025 budget. The budget is the culmination of multiple months of hard work reviewing revenue sources, programs, and understanding what it costs to continue to deliver critical services to the community and maintaining the City’s infrastructure. The City is committed to fiscal sustainability and has made some challenging choices to present the budget to the City Council and the Santa Barbara community. We look forward to reviewing the budget with the City Council in the coming months,” Finance Director Keith DeMartini said.

The City’s recommended budget for FY 2025 can be found by accessing the online budget tool at SantaBarbaraCA.gov/Budget.

(More details, photos and video will be added here later today)