Form revised: December 6, 2011

FISCAL NOTE FOR NON-CAPITAL PROJECTS

Department:	Contact Person/Phone:	CBO Analyst/Phone:
Seattle Department of Transportation	Mary Catherine Snyder 684-8110	Steve Barham 733-9084

Legislation Title: AN ORDINANCE relating to the Traffic Code; allowing payment for parking in City public rights-of-way by mobile device; authorizing the Director of Transportation to enter into contracts and to set convenience fees to be charged for pay by mobile device services; amending Sections 11.14.425, 11.76.005, 11.76.010 and 11.76.015 of the Seattle Municipal Code; and adding a new Section 11.16.127.

Summary of the Legislation:

This legislation amends several sections of the Seattle Municipal Code Title 11 to allow for the acceptance and enforcement of on-street parking fee payments through mobile devices and cleans up out-of-date language related to payment at parking meters and pay stations. Specific changes to Section 11.76.015 make payments made by mobile device non-transferrable to areas or parking time limits other than the one for which the payment is issued. This restriction is needed to enforce payments made by mobile device. New Section 11.16.127 authorizes the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to execute one or more contracts for services from a pay-by-phone vendor. The contract will specify a mobile device payment transaction fee to be charged by the selected vendor.

Background:  

The 2012 Adopted Budget includes funding to begin implementation of a pay-by-phone program. A pay-by-phone payment system offers key customer service enhancements for users of the City’s on-street parking system. The 2011 Seattle Performance-Based Parking Pricing Study recommended this new payment option to enhance Seattle’s parking customer service. SDOT’s Parking Sounding Board, consisting of downtown and neighborhood business stakeholders, strongly supports the project.

SDOT is working closely with the Seattle Police Department Parking Enforcement (SPD) to implement the program by Fall 2012. The City will contract with a vendor to provide these services for the city. The vendor's costs will be solely supported through a convenience fee charged on each pay-by-phone transaction on top of the parking fees paid to the City.

__ __ This legislation does not have any financial implications.

__ X _ This legislation has financial implications.

            Funding to implement the pay-by-phone program in 2012 is included in the 2012 Adopted Budget.  If the legislation is adopted and the pay-by-phone program is implemented, the 2013 Proposed Budget will include cost and revenue adjustments, if necessary, to continue the program.

Other Implications:

a) Does the legislation have indirect financial implications, or long-term implications?

Yes, if the legislation is adopted and a pay-by-phone program is implemented, a reduction in the City's citation revenue could occur due to additional time required for parking enforcement officers to access the enforcement database in the field and to determine which vehicles are in violation. Parking Enforcement could mitigate these impacts through upgrades to handheld equipment and/or adjustments in deployment operations.

Additionally, because a pay-by-phone program creates convenience for parking payment and extension of minutes up to the allowable limits, there could be an increase in paid-parking compliance and use. An increase in compliance could result in an increase in paid-parking revenues as well as a further reduction in citation revenues.

If the pay-by-phone program is implemented, the estimated financial impact will be defined and any adjustments to continue the program, if necessary, will be included in the 2013 Proposed Budget. In the long term, the magnitude of the impacts described above could grow if the pay-by-phone user adoption rate increases.

b) What is the financial cost of not implementing the legislation?

If the legislation is not implemented, the City will not be able to implement a pay-by-phone program. There are no financial costs other than the initial costs that have been expended in 2012.

c) Does this legislation affect any departments besides the originating department? 

In the development of the pay-by-phone program, SDOT has worked with the Seattle Police Department Parking Enforcement, the Department of Finance and Administrative Services, and the Seattle Municipal Court.

d) What are the possible alternatives to the legislation that could achieve the same or similar objectives?

None. Without this legislation, a pay-by-phone program cannot be implemented.

e) Is a public hearing required for this legislation? 

No.

f) Is publication of notice with The Daily Journal of Commerce and/or The Seattle Times required for this legislation?

No.

g) Does this legislation affect a piece of property?

No.           

h) Other Issues:

None.