In dogged search of revenue, Sacramento Regional Transit has resurrected plans for a controversial user fee – $1 a day to park in light-rail stations lots.

Officials say a stingy state budget and a down economy are prompting them to consider draconian steps of their own, including charging people to park at the agency's 19 lots along rail lines around the county.

"These are desperate times," board Chairman Steve Cohn, a Sacramento city councilman, said this week.

RT paid for the lots, maintains and patrols them, so it's fair to charge drivers who park there, Cohn argued. "There is no such thing as free parking."

But board member Dave Sander, a city councilman from Rancho Cordova, is among several with strong misgivings.

The agency could alienate riders who may just stay in their cars all the way to work, he said. Others will park in nearby shopping center lots and restaurants, angering merchants and residents.

"We are hurting ourself politically," Sander said.

The agency backed off the idea last year. But RT's financial situation has worsened with state budget cuts. RT officials estimate one-fifth of the agency's annual revenues are eliminated by state withholding of transit funds.

The agency also has been hit by the local sales tax decline.

The agency raised rider fares last month for the second time in four years. Ridership remains up, and fares cover about 24 percent of the cost of running the buses and trains.

The agency also cut bus service last year. Officials say they won't reduce service again if there is any way to avoid it. Instead, they are considering freezing pay and implementing worker furloughs next month.

RT officials say they also are looking at how much of upcoming federal economic stimulus money can be used to plug holes in the operating budget – thanks to a federal allowance to use some of the funds for ongoing preventive maintenance.

"It'll be tight," General Manager Mike Wiley said.

On Monday at the state Capitol, California Transit Association head Josh Shaw told legislators they should assure transit agencies a steady annual stream of funding, rather than making cuts each time the state has trouble balancing its budget.

Locally, RT officials said this week they are convinced they need to free themselves from hit-and-miss state funding cycles.

"We need to control our own destiny," Wiley said.

The agency hopes to go to the ballot as early as 2010 to ask Sacramento voters for a long-term sales tax increase to stabilize the agency's annual revenues and help it expand as the region grows.

For now, however, RT faces a big $1 question:

Is charging for parking at light-rail lots a step toward financial stability or a desperate move that could cause more trouble than it's worth?

The parking fee is expected to add up to $1.5 million to the agency's projected $145 million budget, agency officials said.

About 4,000 cars park each weekday in RT's light-rail lots.

Some light and medium rail agencies, such as BART or Denver transit, charge for parking. Others, such as Santa Clara and San Diego, do not.

Users could pay online or at a machine on the train platform. Drivers who pay at the station would note their car's stall number when purchasing the ticket, so they would not have to go back to the car to place a sticker or ticket on the dashboard.

The agency decided against using control arms at the entrances to parking lots because they would create traffic jams.

A public hearing, as early as next month, will offer riders a chance to talk about the plan.

Most agency board members this week were leaning toward saying yes.

"If the alternative means cutting service … we have to look at this," board member Roberta MacGlashan, a county supervisor, said.

Fellow county Supervisor Don Nottoli was opposed.

"I don't know that we are that desperate," he said.

Several board members said the agency must find a way to protect neighborhoods around light-rail stations from becoming de facto parking lots for riders who don't want to pay the daily dollar.

Call The Bee's Tony Bizjak, (916) 321-1059.