UNIVERSITY PARKING PROBLEMS CONTINUE

Southeast Missouri State University profits from parking, raking in more than half a million dollars annually from fines and student parking permits.

The revenue climbed steadily from over $420,000 in fiscal 1995 to more than $600,000 in fiscal 1998. It dipped to just over $558,000 in the 1999 fiscal year, which ended June 30.

But Doug Richards, director of the university's department of public safety, said the school isn't out to make money. The goal, he said, is traffic enforcement and control and administering Southeast's limited parking.

That's no easy task. The university, with an enrollment of nearly 9,000 students, has about 2,500 student parking spaces.

In such an environment, it is important to enforce parking restrictions, said Richards. "It is a necessary evil."In the 1998 calendar year, officers and student workers in Richards' department wrote 41,520 tickets, up nearly 21 percent from the previous year.

Unregistered vehicles ranked as the top offense, accounting for about 38 percent of all the tickets written.

Some students don't bother to register their vehicles and pay for parking permits, Richards said. Some of the improperly parked vehicles belong to parents and other visitors.

The university cancels visitors' tickets. A board hears parking-ticket appeals. The student board can modify or rescind the tickets. Last year, more than 5,200 tickets were taken off the books.

Many of the tickets were removed after ticketed students came in and registered their vehicles, Richards said.

Parking permits cost $45 to $80 a year, depending on the lot. It costs more to park in preferred parking spaces near the residence halls and interior of the campus than in the perimeter lots.

Parking fines are as low as $5 for some violations. For many of the violations the fine is $10. Parking in a fire lane carries a $25 fine. Repeat offenders can face higher fines.

The money from parking permits and fines goes to pay the salaries of some of Richards' staff, including the parking and transportation manager, dispatchers and shuttle bus drivers. Student workers in the public safety department, including ticket writers, also are paid from that account. The revenue also goes to pay for parking lot improvements and repairs.

Personnel costs are a major expense, adding up to some $369,000 for DPS staff and student workers, according to the university's budget office.

Richards said the university isn't looking to boost revenue. The university hasn't changed its parking decal structure or raised parking fines for more than six years, he said.

Southeast's shuttle buses are hauling more students. If those numbers continue to climb, Richards expects to see fewer parking violations and tickets.

The university's shuttle buses have hauled more than 47,000 riders so far this fall semester, up more than 12,000 from a year ago.

At the same time, fewer parking tickets have been written this calendar year. Richards estimated his department has issued about 6 percent fewer tickets so far this year compared to 1998.

Southeast is in the process of developing a transitway through the interior of the campus. That should boost shuttle ridership even more, Richards said.

The university over the years has tried to improve parking. But space is limited.

Southeast is planning to tear out the Henderson Avenue tennis courts and turn the site into a parking lot after new tennis courts are built on the north end of campus. Richards said that will provide some needed parking. In the future, the university may build a parking garage."If you don't have parking problems," said Richards, "something is wrong with your enrollment."