IT RAKED in more than a quarter of a million dollars in revenue last year, but the Swan Hill Rural City Council has justified the current paid parking system by saying the infrastructure is self-funding.
The annual general purpose financial report for 2014-15 shows that council has accrued $267,571 in revenue from parking around the CBD.
But according to director of services David Lenton, the system in Swan Hill is largely self-funding, with the money poured straight back into metre upkeep and enforcement.
“Very little of the money just goes into consolidated revenue, [the parking revenue] basically funds all of the parking metres and associated costs, and goes towards crossing supervisors that monitor the school crossings,” he said.
“There’s an annual amount budgeted for the maintenance of the parking machines, so that general revenue would go to offset some of that… it’s about $20,000 for the upkeep, repair and further development of the technology we use,” director of infrastructure and acting director of development and planning David Leahy said.
Despite the ongoing division between the public and council in regards to paid parking, it is here to stay.
For more on this story, pick up a copy of today’s (Friday, October 2) The Guardian…
