Starting Tuesday, motorists who have been using Columbia’s public parking may no longer be able to get away with not paying.
Enforcement of public parking in Columbia will be back in the hands of the Columbia Public Works Department after years of Columbia Police Department oversight. This change corresponds with the start of the new fiscal year, which also occurs Tuesday.
When the Columbia City Council approved the budget for fiscal year 2025 last month, the governing body moved oversight and enforcement of public parking from the Police Department to the Public Works Department.
The change was originally considered when the budget for fiscal year 2025 was proposed in August.
For the previous four fiscal years, this enforcement has been the responsibility of the Police Department, said John Ogan, the public information specialist for the Public Works Department.
Prior to October 2020, the Public Works Department had oversight of parking.
Ogan said that to the best of his knowledge, the city made this decision to free up the Police Department from this specific responsibility so it can “shift (its) focus to broader policing duties,” he said.
The Police Department is facing staffing shortages and issues with hiring and retention, according to previous Missourian reporting.
To prepare for the returned responsibility of parking enforcement, the Public Works Department is currently hiring more staff and acquiring the necessary equipment. The Public Works Department is looking to hire four parking enforcement agents, along with one supervisor, Ogan said.
This will come with some changes in the rigidity of enforcement, Ogan said.
“Downtown residents and visitors should expect a gradual increase (in) enforcement over the next few months,” Ogan said. Since the department is still in the process of hiring parking enforcement agents, it is not likely there will be a sudden onset of aggressive enforcement, Ogan said.
Ogan doesn’t expect any immediate changes in price of parking, enforcement hours or the payment methods accepted by meters, garages and lots.
He said the payment collected from public parking is twofold: It encourages parking turnover and raises money for parking improvements and maintenance. The parking revenue collected from parking payments goes into the city’s parking utility. This public utility supports meter, lot and garage maintenance, and it doesn’t make the city a profit but is instead put back into parking-related upkeep, Ogan said.
The Public Works Department is looking to make some additional changes in the future, Ogan said. This includes decreasing the amount of categories of time limits for parking spots. Simplifying these time limits will likely occur this winter, Ogan said.
Ogan also hopes to strengthen enforcement of the city’s 15-minute curbside pickup spots.
The Public Works Department is also considering changes to enforcement vehicles and ticketing software, according to previous Missourian reporting.
The city of Columbia has about 1,700 parking spaces located on downtown streets, 2,300 spaces in six garages, 535 spaces on six lots and 100 accessible parking spaces, according to the city’s website.
Street spots that are part of the city’s parking utility can be utilized for varying amounts of time, ranging from 15 minutes to 10 hours, with individual meters indicating the maximum duration of parking during enforcement hours. Garage and lot spots are a combination of hourly parking and parking permits.
Parking rates vary across the board, but enforcement hours for parking lots and garages are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for street meters.
Nathan Jesse, a Columbia resident, said his experience with downtown parking “sucks.”
He added that there is not enough parking within the city, and he favors a system in which parking is no cost, which he said has been the case in other places he has lived.
“I prefer to not have to pay all the time. It’s kind of crazy,” Jesse said.
