COLUMBIA - Columbia will begin updating downtown parking meters to the new $1 hourly rate starting Monday, Jan. 5, according to a news release from the city of Columbia Public Works.
The change comes after City Council approved an adjustment to downtown on-street parking rates as part of Columbia's fiscal year 2026 budget.
This is the first on-street rate adjustment downtown Columbia will implement since 2013.
The department says meter revenue has not kept up with rising costs or materials, and contracted services continue to increase in price every year. This has led to small deficits in fiscal years 2024 and 2025, according to the release.
Evaluations by consultants and city staff identified between $9 million and $10 million in needed repairs and technology updates for the city over the next two to five years, according to the release.
Some revenue from parking meter payments is used to support operations and long-term maintenance of the parking system.
The city said campus on-street parking south of Elm Street already has a $1 hourly rate, which encouraged some users to seek out cheaper parking downtown. The city aims to establish a unified rate across both the downtown and campus areas.
Fees will also be adjusted on the ParkMobile app Jan. 5.
City parking garage rates will remain unchanged at 50 cents per hour, with the first hour free, according to the release.
Since 2024, Public Works has implemented several changes to downtown parking, including new 15-minute curbside pickup meters, extending all two-hour meters to three-hour limits, simplifying time limits so that most meters are now either three-hour (gray) or 10-hour (green) and unifying parking enforcement hours to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. across both meters and garages.
