HomeMy WebLinkAboutFlorida Today Article #1Florida Today, September 13, 2011
Those quarters pumped into parking meters along the beachside areas of Cocoa Beach and Indialantic really add up, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for each municipality
to help pay for beach-related expenses.
The parking payments, fines and annual permits raise a total of just more than $1 million in those cities.
Cocoa Beach has 716 meters that generate about $450,000 a year in revenue, according to Assistant City Manager A.J. Hutson. The city also receives $220,000 a year from the $35 parking
tickets given to motorists for not paying the meter and $22,500 from the sale of annual parking stickers.
Parking at metered spots costs $1.50 to $2 an hour, depending on location. City residents now can buy annual passes for $5, while other Brevard County residents can buy them for $25,
although the fee structure will change in 2012.
After paying about $220,000 for the cost of parking enforcement and maintenance of the meters, Cocoa Beach uses the rest of the money for beach-related costs, ranging from trash pickup
to maintenance and replacement of beach dune crossovers.
Some of the money also pays for indirect beach costs, such as increased police patrols needed in the tourist-heavy areas of Cocoa Beach.
Although Cocoa Beach has about 11,200 permanent residents, it must staff its police force to account for the estimated 2 million tourists who visit the city each year, Hutson said.
The Cocoa Beach City Commission earlier this year approved a plan to add more paid parking locations in the city. But Hutson said that expansion awaits the city working out details about
new technology it wants to use for accepting payment from drivers.
In Indialantic, Town Manager Chris Chinault said the 440 meters in five city parking areas near the beach generate $241,000 a year from the 75-cent-an-hour fees, plus $70,000 a year
from the $15 parking tickets and $8,000 a year from the sale of annual permits. Permits will cost $30 a year per vehicle, under a new fee structure that takes effect Jan. 1.
The town uses the money to administer the program, and for maintaining the areas near the beach, including for trash pickup, parking lot repairs and for mowing of surrounding grassy
areas.
"It's just not fair to our taxpayers" to pick up those costs alone, Chinault said, explaining the rationale for the parking charges.
Contact Berman at 321-360-1016 or dberman@floridatoday.com.