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Parking fees add $2.3M to YSU’s revenues
TweetBy Harold Gwin
YOUNGSTOWN
“A lot of people think our primary purpose here is to write tickets, but that’s not so,” said Danny O’Connell, director of support services at Youngstown State University.
Those services include running the university’s parking program which, at about $2.3 million a year, is a business unto itself.
About $2.3 million runs through Youngstown State University's parking-services program annually, as parking has become big business on campus. More than 60 percent of the program revenues come from the sale of student-parking permits.
The parking program at YSU is big business, producing about $2.3 million a year in revenues.
Where it comes from:
$1,500,000: Student parking permits.
$515,000: Faculty and staff permits.
$120,000: Fines.
$80,000: Special-events fees.
$60,000: Daily parking fees.
$25,000: Contracted- services permits.
$18,000: Weekly permits.
$13,000: Parking meters.
Where it goes:
$967,000: Operations (maintenance, repairs, snow removal, etc.).
$590,000: Permanent staff wages.
$379,000: Temporary staff wages.
$245,000: Employee benefits.
$145,000: Administrative fee paid to the university.
Source: YSU 2010-11 budget.
It’s no small task just to maintain the 6,093 parking spaces found in two parking decks and 27 surface lots spread across campus.
Students pay $78 per semester for parking permits (faculty and staff pay $85), and they can get a lot of service for that fee in emergency situations, O’Connell said.
Parking-program employees help with vehicle lockouts and even will run a driver to a gas station with a can to get fuel. An air tank is available to pump up low tires, and, though they can’t change your flat tire for you, parking employees do assist with that task, he said.
The fee also includes use of the campus shuttle that makes the rounds of each parking lot from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Parking services has three vehicles on the road all day, O’Connell said, and the employees can serve as eyes for campus police via radio.
The lots also are staffed with employees to provide control and some measure of additional security.
“Our biggest thing is educating people about where the [empty] spaces are,” he said.
YSU students frequently complain about being unable to find those empty spaces.
The university issued 13,000 student-parking permits this spring, and those students had to share about 5,500 parking spaces, O’Connell said.
They aren’t all on campus at the same time, but that number does cause a search for spaces during the peak time of 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. However, the university hasn’t ever run out of spaces, he said.
Some lots aren’t as convenient as others, but there is always space available somewhere, he said, adding that parking services tells people to have a back-up spot in mind when they come to campus.
Other than spots for the president and vice presidents of the university, there are no reserved parking spaces on campus, and that helps those looking for a spot, O’Connell said.
The parking situation at YSU “is not the greatest,” said Rachel Miller of East Palestine, a junior pre- pharmacy major.
She likes to park in the Lincoln Avenue parking deck but said you have to get there early to get a spot. She usually winds up in the Wick Avenue deck across campus, she said, adding, “It’s no big problem.”
More parking spaces might be helpful, suggested Chelsea Miller of Brookfield, a junior journalism major.
She also likes to park in the Lincoln Avenue deck, where she said it can be difficult sometimes to find a spot.
“It’s not a problem for me,” said Steve Hodge, a senior telecommunications major from Youngstown, who parks in the Wick Avenue deck.
He said he generally has no difficulty finding a convenient space there.
Tom Scala, a junior psychology major from Warren, had a suggestion for where the university might spend the 3.5 percent tuition increase in place for this fall.
“Hopefully, parking,” he said. “Something needs to be done. It’s too hectic.” It could get a bit more hectic next spring. The university is talking about tearing down the Lincoln Avenue deck and replacing it with parking in surface lots around campus.
O’Connell said the $78 student permit is “a very favorable parking rate.”
The University of Akron and Cleveland State University, which are in land-locked situations similar to YSU’s situation, charge $115 and $160 per semester, respectively, he said.
Comments
Parking issues are one of the most annoying on any campus although you would never guess it from this article. The declaration that they never run out of spaces is because they include extremely inconvenient ones far from the buildings that require a long walk, often in inclement weather or at night. I guess its not so bad if you are young but it is often a problem for mature students. That is why so many park on the street or steal spaces from businesses. There are many reserved spaces although they may not have a name on them. If spots are reserved for administrators and there are only a couple in the building then the scam is clear. Look around. There are plenty of labeled spaces as well as whole lots that are reserved, which is the same thing. The campus police are absolutely rabid about ticketing everybody they can in faculty spots or on the streets to force them into their lots. They do this under the premise that they are real peace officers enforcing the law. Meanwhile, they allow the grounds crew to drive on public streets in their little unlicensed Gators and other ATVs. The ATVs can be seen driving for some distance on the streets, stopping at lights, and hand-signaling to turn. The police for the same behavior would quickly stop the rest of us. Also, the services from parking lot attendants are not consistently helpful. Some refuse to be of any help in bad situations. Gas is siphoned and items are stolen under their noses. The truth is that the university is a sacred cow in the area that gets away with extensive abuses of the law and of its financial responsibility. It is a big moneymaking machine that accepts all students so that it can milk public resources such as grants and loans with kids that will never graduate. The athletic program and Rich Center are two big money makers that have nothing to do with advancing scholarship and everything to do with overpaying administration and providing cushy jobs to the in crowd. Local high school teachers and middle level district administrators teach many classes in the education department and probably others so that permanent faculty carry a light load and avoid work. Stopping a few people at random on campus and interviewing the parking police is no way to survey the real situation.
@psyker99 - Some well focued frustration. I can agree with a number of your points aswell. Some of which are my reasons for not attending YSU.
...But, have you heard of paragraphs? It would have helped... 21 sentences all smooshed together... not easy on the eyes...