Meter hours put Muni budget in limbo
By: Joshua Sabatini
Examiner Staff Writer
May 20, 2009
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| (Cindy Chew/The Examiner) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Muni’s budget is stalled because of the issue of how late parking meters should be enforced and whether motorists should be charged for Sunday street parking.
Supervisor John Avalos pushed the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to again reject Muni’s budget, and said the transit agency is mistakenly giving up revenue by refusing to enforce parking meters after 6 p.m. and on Sundays. The board postponed a decision.
The Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors dismissed a proposal to extend meter hours as late as 8 or 10 p.m. when it voted April 30 to approve the budget and send it to the Board of Supervisors. The plan could generate about $9 million. Avalos has outlined one scaled-down version for The City’s “inner core” that would generate about $3.7 million. He said such measures are crucial to preserving services.
In a 7-4 vote, supervisors scheduled a special meeting at noon May 27 to hold what is expected to be the final hearing on the Muni budget, giving board members until then to negotiate. The Muni budget includes a July 1 fare increase from $1.50 to $2, among other fare hikes and service reductions. Additional revenue could offset some of the impacts.
Avalos said that by not rejecting the budget, “we are socking it big time to riders all across San Francisco.” He thinks there is now “supermajority” support to see the parking-meter proposal enacted.
Seven votes are needed to reject the Muni budget. Last week, the board voted 6-5 to pass it. Some members, however, are backtracking on their previous support.
Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, who last week supported the budget, said, “I was one that said I don’t know about Sundays. I don’t know about 10 [p.m.], but I am reconsidering that.”
Last week, transit agency chief Nat Ford said his department would study the idea. But on Tuesday, supervisors asked for a stronger commitment.
Supervisor Carmen Chu was not one of them.
“I remain concerned with parking increases,” she said. “In my neighborhood commercial area, a lot of folks had talked about the hardships that would impose upon them.”
jsabatini@sfexaminer.com
