Fernandina Paid Parking Nets $104,428 in May Despite Shrimp Festival, Construction Disruptions

By Mike Lednovich/Editor

FERNANDINA BEACH — Fernandina Beach's paid parking program generated $104,427.92 in net revenue for the city during May despite losing several days of collections during the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival and ongoing construction that restricted access to part of the downtown district.

According to the city's latest report from parking operator One Parking, the paid parking system produced $160,656.39 in gross revenue during May from hourly parking, permits and parking citations. After sales taxes and operational deductions, the city received a net remittance of $104,427.92.

The May results came during a month that included two significant disruptions to normal parking operations.

Paid parking was suspended during the Shrimp Festival, including one day set aside for vendor setup before the event began. The suspension eliminated revenue collection during what is traditionally one of the busiest weekends of the year for downtown visitation.

At the same time, the city's stormwater construction project along Ash Street between Front Street and Second Street restricted access to portions of the downtown parking district throughout the month.

Despite those impacts, the program remained on pace with the revenue projections city officials have cited since adopting paid parking.

Hourly parking generated $133,234.97 during May, accounting for the majority of the program's revenue.

That total included:

• $122,727.28 from surface parking lots

• $10,507.69 from on-street parking spaces

The system recorded 26,291 paid parking transactions during the month, including 24,004 transactions in surface lots and 2,287 on-street transactions.

Permit sales generated an additional $14,256 in revenue, including:

• 105 non-city resident annual permits: $13,020

• Nine non-city resident monthly permits: $540

• Twenty-six resident third-vehicle permits: $624

• Three paid parking area third-vehicle permits: $72

Parking citations produced another $13,496 in revenue.

The city collected:

• $5,950 from citations paid within 30 days

• $3,024 from citations paid between 31 and 45 days

• $3,772 from citations paid after 45 days

• $750 from ADA violations

A total of 205 citations were paid during May.

Before revenue was remitted to the city, One Parking deducted $8,939.90 in sales taxes.

Variable operating costs totaled $47,288.57 and included:

• Permit administration fees: $19,086

• Transaction convenience fees: $22,873.17

• Credit card processing fees: $5,329.40

The report also reflected a negative hourly revenue adjustment of $330.58.

No monthly operating expense reimbursement was billed in the May invoice. The report notes that a separate $26,964 operating expense invoice for April had previously been submitted.

A separate weekly report through May 31 shows the paid parking program has generated $459,301.79 in gross hourly parking revenue since launching in February.

The report specifically notes that the figure represents gross hourly parking revenue only and does not include permit sales or citation revenue. It also does not account for taxes, processing fees, permit administration costs or operating expenses.

Through the end of May, the system had recorded 88,317 hourly parking transactions.

The weekly report also shows approximately 9,530 permits issued or active in the parking system, including more than 7,500 city resident permits and nearly 1,500 non-resident annual permits.

Paid parking citations have generated $38,752 in cumulative revenue from 704 paid citations since enforcement began.

Based on May's gross revenue of $160,656, the program is currently operating at an annualized rate of approximately $1.93 million before expenses. City officials have previously cited a goal of generating roughly $2 million annually from paid parking operations.

Whether the program ultimately exceeds the $2 million mark will be dependent on summer tourism activity, future downtown special events and favorable weather conditions.