STARKVILLE – Patrons will see the cost of parking in ParkMobile spots throughout Midtown and the Cotton District increase in the coming months.
During Tuesday night’s board meeting, aldermen voted 6-1 to increase paid parking rates, beginning Sept. 1.
The rate is set to increase the regular weekday rate by 25 cents per hour, bringing the hourly rate to $1.25, with a three-hour maximum.
Saturday parking, which was previously free all day, will now cost an hourly rate of $1.25 with a three-hour maximum, as well as an option to pay a flat-rate fee of $10 for the entire day or $25 per day if it is a game day for Mississippi State athletics. The first 15 minutes of parking will remain free.
Mayor Lynn Spruill, who brought forth the motion, said the increase is intended to provide businesses with customer turnover, particularly on Saturdays. However, Tyler Klaas, owner of Boardtown Pizza and Pints and The Klaasroom in the Cotton District, argued the Saturday flat rate could do the opposite.
“The parking meters were kind of imposed to eliminate squatters, as that’s what they do,” Klaas told the board Tuesday. “… I kind of disagree with adding (the cost) on the weekends because you’re getting people to pay, but at the same time, they’re once again squatting all day.”
Robbie Coblentz, owner of Dolce and L’uva Wine Room, argued the increase could deter customers and cost his business in Saturday sales.
“I think adding Saturday streetside parking just generally is a bad idea for our business at Dolce,” Coblentz said. “(I’m) estimating a 10% to 15% decrease on average in Saturday sales.”
Ward 1 Alderwoman Kim Moreland suggested tweaking the motion to implement the weekend flat-rate fee on side streets only while keeping an hourly rate for parking in front of businesses.
Ward 5 Alderman William Pochop, who voted against the motion, said the discussion around the increase felt like an “arbitrary conversation” and suggested tabling the discussion until a better option could be considered.
Spruill said the issue could be revisited in January or in the spring once the board has heard sufficient feedback from local businesses.
Budget discussions
Two citizens spoke against the board’s proposed budget during the meeting’s public hearing, both arguing the proposed city tax rate of 7.3% would contribute to the city’s “housing affordability problem.”
“We see people trying to move to Starkville every day saying no now because they realize what an affordability problem we have,” said resident Kelly Prather. “… I think our community is overtaxed, and it’s time to say no. Find it in another area.”
Ward 2 Alderwoman and budget chair Sandra Sistrunk assured residents the tax increase would be a minor change to their overall tax bills.
“I don’t think this is the kind of tax increase that’s going to drive a lot of changes,” Sistrunk said. “To speak to the idea of the rent, it’s a tiny portion of the cost of owning property that gets rented. The bigger issue for rent is the demand and available stock, and it does go up, but the tax increase is not going to … drive your rent number up.”
Pochop agreed the tax increase alone should not increase rent, though he said landlords may still charge more anyway.
“I’ve already gotten two texts from people who do own property in the city,” Pochop said. “They said ‘if this does happen, we will increase rents.’ They shouldn’t, but they will because if there’s ways to increase their own revenue, they’ll find it. I’m hesitant to give them an excuse and to put that burden on our renters.”
Moreland said there are simply “no good answers” for closing the city’s gap in revenue.
“We have gone down every possible option on raising revenue, for instance, parking, and we get push back from that,” Moreland said. “There are no good answers for this, so we are willing to take anybody that is going to give us suggestions. We are not opposed to that. … How much do we cut before we end up hurting the city more than we’re helping?”
If the tax increase passes, it could raise homeowners’ tax bills $23.60 per every $100,000 of home value.
Other business
In other business, the board:
■ agreed unanimously to allow $700,000 in left over state grant funding to be redirected toward relocating and upgrading the Josey Creek sewage pumping station, which serves NorthStar Industrial Park;
■ approved the renewal of the city’s contract with the Sports Facilities Companies, which manage all city parks, for another three years;
■ approved a $4,800 contract with Neel Schaeffer to conduct an archaeological survey at 405 Lynn Lane, in hopes of receiving a $150,000 grant to fund a skate park.
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