REDDIT: In 2014, the PPA brought in a combined revenue of $233,708,372 from its On-Street & Off-Street parking operations. $121,531,303 was from On-Street parking enforcement (ticketing) alone. While, you’d think that numbers like this would be a boon for the city. After constant wasteful spending, hyper-inflated salaries/pensions, and uncontrolled budgets – the city only actually receives a small portion of this. At the end of the fiscal year, only $46.5 million of their $233 million in revenue ended up going to the the City general fund & the School district. A measly $9.7 million of this was reserved for the struggling school district. Compare this with 2012, when $14 million was given to the schools, despite a $3 million increase in revenues since then.
The Parking Authority was originally created with the intentions to work 100% for the benefit of the City of Philadelphia, not against it. As with parking enforcement in other major cities, this is an agency which should be operating on a shoe-string budget, with the majority of all revenues going back into the city and school district. The financial statements indicate that the agency does not have control over its spending, and does not keep the welfare of the city of Philadelphia in mind when making budgeting decision. Cash for major capital projects should be raised & funded only with the approval of the city budget office, after its been determined it can be afforded with the city’s current financial needs. With their spending, money that would be given back to the city, is instead being re-invested back into PPA personnel, equipment, & projects. Do we really need to spend $70,000,000 on a new parking garage when thousands of teachers are threatened with their jobs. Does the PPA need brand new tow trucks and meter maid vehicles every year when kids are in classrooms with 40-50 peers and no text books? There are far greater priorities than frivolous investments which don’t directly benefit the people of Philadelphia. If demand calls for it, privately owned garages should & would inevitably fill any unmet needs. The citizens of Philadelphia should not stand to be pirated by this criminal organization. MORE
