ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown officials are set to offer an update this week on potential parking-related changes in the city.
City Council scheduled a special meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday, during which leaders from Allentown Parking Authority are expected to detail a payment plan program and a parking-meter study.
Council signed off last summer on a slew of parking fine increases after APA officials said they would create a structure for people to pay their tickets off over longer periods.
The agency also agreed to conduct a study of parking meters in the city in return for the higher fines.
City Councilman Santo Napoli, who also sits on the parking authority board, said an internal payment plan would cost the agency up to $50,000 and be one of its “first orders of business” after council’s approval in June.
Allentown Parking Authority enforcers are again conducting overnight patrols, looking only for “public safety” violations.Allentown Parking Authority officials
Parking authority officials in March 2024 projected the agency would fall $1.8 million short of its projected revenues for 2023.
About $1 million of that budget hole was attributed to lost ticket revenues after council slashed the APA’s active patrol hours by almost half.
The other $800,000 came from higher-than-expected interest payments on the Maple Street garage and unbudgeted repairs at the Spiral Deck, officials said.
Overnight patrols return
The parking authority last week started writing overnight tickets again, less than two years after its board ended the controversial practice.
Enforcers are only looking for “public safety” violations, such as double-parking, blocking a street or fire hydrant and parking too close to a corner.
The parking authority board also last year raised parking deck rates and permit prices for surface lots and decks. APA officials said internal policy changes would generate more than $1 million in additional revenues each year.
Vicky Kistler, Allentown’s director of community and economic development, last year said Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk and his administration were “in full support of the fine increase.”
She called Allentown’s parking fine system “antiquated” and said many people are happy to pay a ticket to “park for a whole day” because it’s cheaper than paying an hourly rate to park all day.
