- Parking fines boom
- By ANDREW JEFFERSON AND JOHN MASANAUSKAS
- Herald Sun
- 30/07/2015 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: Marnie ( 1 article in 2015 )
PARKING fees and fines are a goldmine for the Melbourne City Council, producing
revenue that’s running almost $5 million ahead of budget.
Council confirmed yesterday it had collected $93.1 million in 2014-15 — $49.3 million in
parking fees and $43.8 million in fines — $4.5 million more than it had budgeted for.
But Lord Mayor Robert Doyle accused Councillor Stephen Mayne, who revealed the excess
during a council meeting this week, of breaching financial confidentiality, saying the release of such data had to be subject to a proper process, including auditing.
“Councils get themselves into trouble when they start breaking those rules,” he said yesterday. “You’re undermining the authority of the CEO ... it stems back to councillors doing the wrong thing and putting egos in front of the rules.”
But Cr Mayne said the Lord May or should support more transparency: “I don’t believe it
was confidential, but Cr Doyle does have a tendency to keep matters unnecessarily secret.”
Cr Mayne let slip the figure in a debate on a review of private car-share schemes, including the extent to which ratepayers should subsidise them. Council aims to provide 2000 car- share spots — half on- street and half off- street — by 2021 as it encourages people to give up cars.
Operators pay less for on-street spaces than council would get from metered parking, so council could lose up to $600,000 a year.
Cr Mayne said it should not quibble about the subsidy.
“Just today (Tuesday) we were told that we’re $2.9 million ahead of forecasts this year on car parking fees and $4.5 million on overall parking revenue,” he said.
Cr Doyle retorted: “Councillor, I’m actually not sure we can make that public yet.” He said the
extra revenue was mainly due to the delay in creating new bus lanes on Victoria Pde.
revenue that’s running almost $5 million ahead of budget.
Council confirmed yesterday it had collected $93.1 million in 2014-15 — $49.3 million in
parking fees and $43.8 million in fines — $4.5 million more than it had budgeted for.
But Lord Mayor Robert Doyle accused Councillor Stephen Mayne, who revealed the excess
during a council meeting this week, of breaching financial confidentiality, saying the release of such data had to be subject to a proper process, including auditing.
“Councils get themselves into trouble when they start breaking those rules,” he said yesterday. “You’re undermining the authority of the CEO ... it stems back to councillors doing the wrong thing and putting egos in front of the rules.”
But Cr Mayne said the Lord May or should support more transparency: “I don’t believe it
was confidential, but Cr Doyle does have a tendency to keep matters unnecessarily secret.”
Cr Mayne let slip the figure in a debate on a review of private car-share schemes, including the extent to which ratepayers should subsidise them. Council aims to provide 2000 car- share spots — half on- street and half off- street — by 2021 as it encourages people to give up cars.
Operators pay less for on-street spaces than council would get from metered parking, so council could lose up to $600,000 a year.
Cr Mayne said it should not quibble about the subsidy.
“Just today (Tuesday) we were told that we’re $2.9 million ahead of forecasts this year on car parking fees and $4.5 million on overall parking revenue,” he said.
Cr Doyle retorted: “Councillor, I’m actually not sure we can make that public yet.” He said the
extra revenue was mainly due to the delay in creating new bus lanes on Victoria Pde.
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