COLUMBIA — Columbia Public Works issued 289 parking citations Tuesday.
The department has been ramping up parking enforcement in downtown Columbia since October, when Public Works regained control over parking enforcement after four years.
Public Works has issued nearly 2,500 tickets in the three months since it took over enforcement from the Columbia Police Department.
In the final year that Columbia police managed parking enforcement, the department issued nearly 4,000 citations.
Public Works has been ramping up parking enforcement in downtown Columbia since October when it took over parking enforcement from police.
That means Public Works is issuing between two and three times as many tickets as the Police Department did last year.
That rate could change. Columbia Public Works currently has two parking enforcement agents. Another agent will complete onboarding for Public Works next week, bringing the total number of agents to three.
Public Works intends to hire another agent as soon as possible, making a full parking enforcement staff of four agents.
The total dollar amount from citations issued since Oct. 1 comes out to nearly $39,000. Revenue collected from permits, meters and Park Mobile has amounted to over $1.2 million since Public Works took over enforcement.
Public Works spokesperson John Ogan said proper parking enforcement is necessary for a livable downtown.
"It allows people to come downtown and know that they can have a parking space more often," Ogan said. "It eliminates cruising so vehicles don't have to drive around looking for a free parking space, and that cuts down on traffic congestion and pollution — and it also makes for a more walkable downtown area."
A person can be issued a citation for every hour they are in violation, the city parking manager said.
About 100 of the citations Public Works has issued were warnings with no fees attached. In late December, enforcement agents began issuing citations with fines of $15.50.
After a citation is issued, residents have 15 days to pay their ticket to the municipal courts. If the ticket is not paid, the courts will then issue a $31.50 court fee and a court date.
In that 15-day span, people can contest their ticket by filling out a parking ticket protest form. At that point, the form will go to the city prosecutor, and a decision will be made to either dismiss the ticket or schedule a court date. The person will be required to appear on the court date and time listed on the citation unless they pay the ticket before that date, according to the city website.
The city has nearly 1,700 parking spaces on downtown streets, 2,300 spaces in six garages, 535 spaces on six lots and 100 accessible parking spaces, according to previous KOMU 8 reporting. Nearly all street parking uses hourly meters, while garages and lots use hourly parking rates and permits.
Parking rates can vary between 60 cents and $1 per hour, and street meters are enforced 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Longtime Columbia resident Willy Maxwell is in favor of the increased parking enforcement.
"I'm pleased that it's slowly coming back, and they need some more people too," Maxwell said.
He said he has warned friends and family that enforcement is coming back.
"You're going to get nailed if you don't feed that thing," Maxwell said.
Katie Hertel has lived in Columbia since 2019 and has noticed the fluctuation in parking enforcement.
"It's definitely word around the street; I've definitely heard about the parking maids," Hertel said. "It's definitely been a change because I think for a while it was known that no one was going to be enforcing anything."
She said she was prone to skipping out on the meter if she was in town for only a short time.
"If I was here for under an hour, I'd probably try to go in and not worry about it," Hertel said.
