Editorial: San Jose tried to sneak more money out of locals and got caught

When San Jose approved its $5.5 billion budget for this fiscal year, one department digging around for revenue streams tried to pull a fast one on downtown businesses and residents by doubling the hourly rate for parking meters.

It almost worked because the item was buried on the City Council’s consent calendar in a pile with 18 other items, until Councilmember George Casey pulled it for discussion after receiving complaints from businesses. Downtown business owners, workers and residents caught wind of the city’s decision to raise parking rates from $2 per hour to $4 per hour, along with changing the meter shut off time from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The pricing on about 900 parking meters located within two blocks of a city parking garage will be affected. The three-hour extension will impact about 1,600 parking meters.

No decision was made, and the item should be coming back for discussion on Sept. 15

The San Jose Department of Transportation unilaterally came up with this amendment to the master parking rate schedule for the downtown core. There was no community outreach other than to the San Jose Downtown Association and San Jose Chamber of Commerce. After they both missed the emails, the city didn’t follow up.

Yet the department leaped ahead and factored in $1.2 million in parking meter revenue and an estimated $70,000 in parking violation fees annually into the budget without discussing the potential ramifications. In other words, the city thought it was a done deal, and councilmembers were inches away from rubber stamping it.

Downtown business owners and workers were livid. They said it would be a hardship and drive away residents. Workers said it would cut deeply into their earnings, causing some to seek employment elsewhere.

The department hardly considered the impact on the city’s vibrant nightlife — downtown’s salvation. The city’s core is still struggling with office vacancy rates at more than 30%. The pre-pandemic workforce has never returned downtown, even if other parts of San Jose have improved. And when San Jose State University is not in session, downtown is empty during the day.

The department’s rationale lacked logic, especially when staff compared the rates to Oakland at $4 per hour, San Francisco at $13 per hour and Sacramento at $6 per hour. This not San Jose’s competition. Downtown’s competition is the neighboring communities — Santana Row, Willow Glen, Los Gatos and Campbell. They all have free parking, or in the case of Santana Row $2 per hour parking after two hours free.

The nightlife businesses and city efforts to rebuild downtown’s vibe will definitely take a hit, especially if meter parking is no longer free after 6 p.m. Residents will think twice about coming into downtown, other than for special occasions like Christmas in the Park or music festivals like Jazz Summer Fest.

Does the city really want to jam up the one thing that’s actually working?

Even though downtown experienced a daytime moment thanks to the Super Bowl  and World Cup watch parties — it was just a point in time. The events have ended and that unique day to night crowd cycle is over. The quiet has returned. Hotels are again empty and Signia by Hilton will start looking for a buyer.

San Pedro Square during the day is mostly unoccupied. Come back at night and it’s alive, as are other parts of the downtown, like the SoFA District, Creekside and Little Italy — especially on weekends.

The hotel tax measure approved by city voters in June is projected to generate $10 million in additional revenue each year, and none of that is coming out of locals’ pockets. That’s a solid decision.

Raising parking rates and pushing the meters until 9 p.m., so the city can scrape more money from businesses and residents without any outreach, is a harebrained idea.

Moryt Milo is an editor at San José Spotlight. Contact Moryt at [email protected] or follow her at @morytmilo on X.