Sacramento City Council approves hundreds of fee hikes amid $66M budget deficit
.JPG "A parking enforcement officer issues a warning for a car parked on 24th Street in midtown Sacramento in 2020. The city stopped issuing parking tickets for overdue meter payments during the pandemic, but continues to issue them to cars parked in the way of street sweeping, garbage and recycling pickup.")
The Sacramento City Council approved Tuesday hundreds of fee hikes to help fill a $66 million budget gap.
Some of the services that will become more expensive include fire prevention costs, animal licensing fees and renting theater spaces. Parking violation fines will also increase.
City Manager Maraskeshia Smith vowed not to increase parking meter rates, a strategy the city relied upon in years past to balance previous deficits. But the council could expand all parking meter hours to 10 p.m. under the proposed budget.
Sacramento’s general fund could grow by $7.4 million under the new payment structure, according to city staff.
Finance Director Pete Coletto said the adjustments help keep the city apace with rising costs. Inflation rose in April to its highest level since May 2023, according to news reports.
Lobbyists and residents involved in Sacramento’s business community said they understood the reason behind the fee hikes, but worried about how business owners and customers alike can absorb those costs.
“We already have complaints from our customers that parking is too expensive,” said Max Soucia, the owner of Ink and Image LLC. “As everybody here knows, parking in Old Sacramento is at a premium to begin with. We can’t afford to lose more customers.”
Here are some of the approved parking violation fees, compared to the fees in 2024.
- The fee for an expired meter increases to $80, up from $50.
- The fee for wrongly parking in a designated residential permit area increases to $60, up from $40.
- The fee for parking in an area during restricted hours increases to $60, up from $40.
- The fee for parking outside a designated marked parking space increases to $60, up from $35.
- The fee for parking in a bike lane increases to $150, up from $50.
- The fee for parking in a passenger loading zone increases to $70, up from $40.
- The fee for parking in a no parking zone increases to $70, up from $40.
The Capitol Garage, City Hall Garage, Memorial Garage, Old Sacramento Garage and Tower Bridge Garage parking rates increased by 25 cents per half hour.
The fines will become effective July 1. The council is scheduled to adopt its budget June 9.
