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June 13, 2005 Volume 29, Issue 36 |
Parking fee changes this fall will help fund campus infrastructure improvements
Beginning this fall, parking decal fees for students, faculty and staff will be $50 a year, although the cost to benefits-eligible employees whose annual earnings are $25,000 or less will remain at $25.
The university also has made arrangements for parking fees to be treated as a pre-tax payroll deduction, which will result in some net savings to employees. The amount of savings will vary according to individual tax circumstances.
All benefits-eligible employees will be automatically enrolled in this program unless they choose to opt out. Parking decal fees will be deducted in 18 equal installments from paychecks issued from Aug. 31 through May 15, although decals will be valid for a full year.
Also beginning in August, MSU will offer a guaranteed parking space in a designated, gated lot to some faculty and staff for a fee of $120 a year. The fee includes the cost of a regular parking decal and will be withheld as a pre-tax deduction from paychecks over a nine-month period.
Initially, at least 200 controlled spaces surrounding Allen Hall will be offered to full-time employees who work in Allen Hall or nearby buildings, with a first-come, first-served sign-up period to be held this summer.
The changes are part of a long-range approach to parking and traffic improvements that creates a structure in which the primary users and beneficiaries of facilities incur a more proportionate share of the costs, President Charles Lee said in a message to faculty and staff.
Although the standard $50 fee is low compared with prevailing rates at regional peer institutions, the added revenue will help improve parking and traffic conditions, Lee said.
“Parking and traffic conditions on campus continue to be sources of frustration for many of us, but we are working hard to improve our environment and believe that we are now making significant progress,” Lee said.
Planned construction will pay off in a safer, more efficient, and more pedestrian-friendly campus, consistent with the Campus Master Plan adopted two years ago, he said.
MSU also is making changes to the way street and parking maintenance and improvements are funded. A separate, designated account for this purpose will be established, and all revenues from parking decal sales and fines for parking violations will go into that account, rather than to the university’s general fund.
Over time, the change will result in more consistent and adequate funding for the type of transportation infrastructure the campus needs, Lee said.