Lowers $4 per hour to $2, will extend time limit
The Cold Spring Village Board agreed on Wednesday (June 12) to halve the hourly rate for metered parking on Main Street and raise the time limit by an hour after merchants complained they were losing customers.
The five trustees agreed to lower the $4 per hour rate to $2 per hour and to allow drivers to pay for a minimum of 30 minutes, rather than an hour. They also said they would raise the maximum time allowed from three hours to four.
In addition, the fees at the municipal lot on Fair Street, which are $2.50 per hour on weekdays and $3.50 per hour on weekends, will be lowered to $2 per hour daily. That will also be the fee for spots at Mayor’s Park that will be available after the Fair Street culvert is repaired. The Fair Street lot has a 72-hour time limit.
The board kept the fine for a parking ticket at $75.
Because raising the maximum time requires amending the Village Code, the board must hold a public hearing, which is scheduled for June 26. The board can change the fees without a code revision.
The village said on Friday that the kiosks and ParkMobile app would be reprogrammed with the lower prices and longer hours after its June 26 meeting. Until then, the current prices and limits remain in effect.
The changes will cost the village an estimated $100,000 in revenue from parking fees, which the board has budgeted for the 2024-25 fiscal year at $285,000. The village took in $29,000 from the 80 metered spaces on Main Street between April 5, when the fees took effect, and May 20.
“It’s revenue we’re not going to have and it will have budget impacts,” said Mayor Kathleen Foley. “It could be new employees, it could be services. It’s going to be painful.”
The decision on Wednesday followed a discussion at the board’s June 5 meeting in which a contingent of Main Street merchants asked for lower fees and longer limits, saying the meters were affecting their bottom line and frustrating customers, especially those who received tickets.
Foley noted that the debate over parking fees had been going on for decades, citing a 1989 profile of Cold Spring in The New York Times that alluded to the possibility of meters and resident permits.
Foley said that, in public sessions held while the parking program was being developed, the board made clear its intent to reduce traffic density, increase visitor use of public transportation and encourage parking in the municipal and Metro-North lots while preserving resident parking and village character.
Foley said parking fees allow the village to offset the cost of tourism. Village residents bear that expense because Putnam County doesn’t share sales tax revenue with its municipalities, she said.
The Main Street meters, between Depot Square and Route 9D, are enforced from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The municipal lots are enforced at all times. Residents can obtain permits to park on most sections of side streets.
Thanks to all who engaged with respect on this issue. The result is a reasonable resolution.
From what I understand, the village’s budget shortfalls have created the need for this parking meters program as a way to raise revenues to balance its budget and fundraise for infrastructure repairs. These budget gaps could be mitigated, at least in part, if Putnam County would agree to share back a portion of sales tax revenues with the village. Unfortunately, Putnam County is one of the few counties in New York which do not share any sales tax revenues with its towns and villages.
It would be a godsend if the county would allow Cold Spring to get back some of the sales taxes it generates, which could help fund critical infrastructure repairs. Without that, the village is forced to take out loans and rely on hopes of being awarded state and federal grants to address flooding, roadway repairs and other infrastructure needs, including storm water system upgrades and critical repairs to the reservoirs which supply water to the village.
Hopefully the new parking fees don’t continue to harm Cold Spring businesses, which among other misfortunes, would also cause them to have less sales tax to send to the county, which turns into a lose-lose for both the village and the county. If the county would share back some of the sales tax revenues generated by Cold Spring businesses to help the Village keep its vibrancy and solvency, that seems to me a win-win.
A $75 parking ticket is absurd. I frequent Cold Spring often but sometimes it is a two-minute visit for coffee and a scone or to run in to buy a quick gift. That was the charm to coming into Cold Spring — not bringing out a phone to scan a QR code to pay parking. I am happy that it at least got reduced from $4 per hour to $2 per hour, but this is just one more expense on top of the things that are pleasurable. [via Instagram]