18 February 2022
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Parking costs and revenue
Enquiry
As you may know I put in a LGOIMA request regarding parking revenue and cost. [see HERE]
I did the same for Tauranga City Council, and a comparison of the two responses shows the cost of Rotorua's parking system - ie the i-Park contract - is five times more than what Tauranga pays for theirs.
The i-Park contract in the 2020/2021 financial year was $1.5m. Tauranga's contracts were approximately $350,000 for the same period.
The net revenue, after costs (including legal fees) for parking for Rotorua is about $620,000. Tauranga's net revenue is $4.3m - of course Tauranga has a bigger population and likely more parks (I'm clarifying this with them).
As I understand it, based on these figures, Rotorua ratepayers' return on investment is 40c per dollar invested while Tauranga ratepayers' is $12 per dollar invested.
For the council:
Approximately how many individual car parks are metered within the council's parking system?
Why does Rotorua's parking system (ie the i-Park contract) cost five times more than Tauranga's ratepayers pay for theirs?
For the mayor:
What is your view of the cost of the i-Park system given now your knowledge that Tauranga's costs $1.15m less than Rotorua's? Are Rotorua's ratepayers getting a good deal with i-Park, in your view?
COMMENTS:
Paddi Hodgkiss said she was "absolutely gobsmacked" to learn of the difference in the price of the contracts.
"We're in debt, almost, for running it. Forty cents is next to nothing."
She said the council needed to provide a "please explain".
"They have to justify ... why they chose i-Park [and] explain what they're doing to mitigate the paltry returns."
She said the council had cited the lack of revenue from parking as one of the reasons for its $6m deficit in the financial year to December but she believed it should have acknowledged the cost of the i-Park contract in that.
She said Covid-19 had been blamed for its impact on parking revenue but it would have impacted Tauranga as well.
Hodgkiss said she refused to use the council's car parks because of the i-Park system and she believed many used the Rotorua Central Mall carpark to avoid it as well.
"That's put a lot of people off.
"The useability is a major, major issue particularly with older people. It's like the council has washed their hands of it."
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Rotorua MP Todd McClay said the figures showed there needed to be "absolute scrutiny" on a better way to run the Rotorua parking system to mitigate its impact on ratepayer dollars.
He said the i-Park contract needed to be reconsidered.
"A lot of businesses and households are doing it hard with ongoing restrictions and have to consider every dollar they spend. It's incumbent on the Government and local councils to do the same with ratepayers' money.
"Perhaps one of the seven deputy chief executives can look into this urgently."
Response
From Council’s Manager, Community & Regulatory Services, Kurt Williams:
Without knowing the details of Tauranga’s parking service contract, it’s difficult to comment on price difference.
Rotorua Lakes Council went through a staged procurement programme to identify which parking services provider we should partner with, and in 2017 awarded the contract to iPark.
iPark is contracted to provide all parking services on behalf of Council, including parking wardens and office staff, and the required parking infrastructure and technology.
We have 1,350 metered parking spaces, this includes the Pukuatua Street Parking Building.
From Rotorua Mayor, Steve Chadwick:
Council upgraded the parking system to provide a more consistent and modern service to the community, that also supports the turnover of parking spaces within the CBD. I am confident our parking services provider and contract deliver an efficient and effective suite of parking services, and council officers continue to monitor and adjust this service as required.
Please note:
Tauranga City Council has clarified that their contract figure of $350,000 includes only operational contracts and maintenance costs. All other costs of running the whole parking operation (salaries, admin, depreciation etc) are excluded.