York council is looking for ways to offset a huge budget shortfall – and more of the costs could fall on motorists.
Last month City of York Council revealed it was set to overspend by £11.4m next year.
Since then officers have been identifying potential cutbacks and savings to meet the gap.
We previously reported the suggestion that council owned car parks could increase their charges by 10p an hour.
A new document has put forward more ways the city could generate extra cash from drivers.
In a Finance and Performance Monitor report by the council’s head of service finance Patrick Looker, he says income levels from parking in York are “10% above 2022/23 levels and over 22% above budget.
“Members could consider further increases in longer stay parking from November 2023 (which would link in with the St Nick’s Fayre and run up to Christmas).”
Councillors could increase charges in a number of different ways, such as:
- A flat increase – an increase of 10p or 20p could be added to all hourly charge rates which would increase revenues across the parking estate
- An increase in the all day rate (over 5 hours) which is currently £16 at standard stay car parks (Marygate, Union Terrace, Monk Bar and St George’s Field). “This charge is relatively cheap when compared to other cities and alternative providers in the city,” says the report. Members could increase this to £18 per day or £20 per day.
A 20p hourly increase, allied to a £20 a day tariff, could bring in an extra £365 a year.
Other money raising or saving suggestions in the report include:
- A freeze on recruitment, agency, and overtime wherever possible and safe to do so
- Charge for green bin collections
- Delaying schemes that require capital spending
- Reducing spending on highways maintenance
- Further reductions in ward funding
- A review of grant payments to the community and voluntary sector to identify any areas that could be reduced
- Review all fees and charges to identify where in year increases could be implemented.
The paper will go to the economy, place, access and transport scrutiny committee on Tuesday. You can read the documents here.