Drop in fines, parking fees delivers $5m blow for Adelaide City Council
The COVID-19 driven exodus from the CBD is making Adelaide City Council’s accountants sweat as income from carparks dry up and inspectors face shortages of people to fine.
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Fewer people commuting to the city to work and shop due to the coronavirus crisis will blow a multimillion-dollar hole in Adelaide City Council’s earnings.
Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said the council was expecting to lose up to $5 million in the three months to the end of June specifically because of reduced parking fees and traffic fines.
“This impact is a direct result of having less people working in and visiting the city due to COVID-19 restrictions,” Ms Verschoor said.
“It is also due to council’s decision to be more flexible with its approach to managing on-street parking to make the city as accessible as possible during this challenging period.”
Last month the council directed parking and information officers to take a flexible approach when monitoring parking, especially with vehicles in timed and ticketed zones.
The decision was not designed to enable people to park all day on-street regardless of the time limit or parking control, with carparking stations still recommended for all-day parking.
“We undertook these measures knowing there would be a significant impact to our budget, but we take our duty of care to public health and to support our city businesses, residents and community seriously,” Ms Verschoor said.
“We will continue to put our community first as we craft a way forward from this crisis.” The council voted earlier this month to allow Royal Adelaide Hospital doctors and nurses to park their cars in a section of the western Parklands for free.
Additional support included capped $8 parking in the council’s nine UParks and lifting restrictions on 60 parking spaces in North Adelaide.
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The council rejected a push for free parking for police officers, paramedics and other essential services workers during the COVID-19 crisis.
A special council meeting on April 22 was informed that a revision of financial forecasts across all areas of council business would see a reduction of up to $30 million over the next three months as “a result of COVID-19 impacts and initiatives”.
The council’s executive is considering raising the council’s $90 million debt ceiling and halting major projects and services to deal with the significant financial blow of the health emergency.
The council generates about 45 per cent of its income from commercial revenue streams, including parking.
It will further review the financial impact of coronavirus at its May 12 meeting.