Time running out for Spokane’s dial meters

By the end of the year, dropping coins into city of Spokane parking meters will get slightly easier.

The City Council tonight is expected to approve the replacement of Spokane’s remaining mechanical parking meters with electronic ones.

Of the city’s 2,741 parking meters, 1,195 of them require a twist of a handle to drop a coin that pops an arrow at a parker’s allotted time.

The city has been removing the dial meters “little by little” for about a decade, said Tim Dunivant, city budget director. But that effort was slowed during 2004 budget cuts.

City officials, though, are growing concerned that if meters aren’t replaced soon, there could be more free parking. That’s because broken dial meters are becoming harder to fix, said Scott Egger, Spokane’s street director.

“You can’t buy the (dial) meters, and you can’t get parts,” Egger said.

Replacement of the old meters is expected to cost $481,000, an amount that will be pulled from Street Department reserves.

Though the electronic meters require batteries, they’re still more cost-efficient, Egger said.

“Electronic meters are more accurate and just require less maintenance,” he said.

The city earns about $1.8 million a year in parking meter revenue. It dipped slightly last year at least in part because meters near the former Burlington Coat Factory downtown were blocked while the building was remodeled, Egger said.

Most of the money from meters until 2027 will pay off bonds issued as part of the River Park Square settlement. The mall is owned by the Cowles Company, which also owns The Spokesman-Review.

Parkers may soon have to pay more for the right to use the dial-free meters.

The city’s Matrix report, an efficiency study released earlier this year, suggested raising rates to increase revenue by about $300,000 a year.