New Parking Meters Make More Money, But Costs Grow

When city officials announced last spring they were equipping every parking meter in Santa Monica with credit card payment machines, they projected revenues would grow $1.7 million in the first fiscal year.

They are doing a bit better than expected.

Revenue has increased by about $4.5 million, according to Finance Director Don Patterson. But the cost to operate them has also ballooned by about $2.5 million per year.

A big portion of the costs are transaction fees for credit card processing paid to TransFirst Health and Government Services, Inc. The city is averaging about 1 million transactions per month.

Credit card payments now account for 60 percent of all transactions, which is good for city coffers, because people who pay with plastic tend to pay for more time. They "are more likely to be used where meter rates are $2 per hour and on transactions where people stay longer," Patterson said.

The average credit transaction is $1.73, while the the average cash transaction is 60 cents.

It was a rate hike in October in the fall that pushed more people to use credit cards at meters. Before then, they accounted for 45 percent of transactions, Patterson said.

"Both cost and revenue has increased since October," he said.

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