The City of Santa Barbara is facing a big budget deficit — $3.8 million to be exact.
"We’ve had a structural deficit for many years going back to before the pandemic. Once the pandemic happened, it exacerbated the issue," said Sarah Clark, City of Santa Barbara Downtown Management.
To combat the deficit, the city is looking at several options from cutting costs to raising fees.
"Maybe charging more in the crowded parking lots and maybe less in the less crowded parking lots, making changes to the subsidized parking periods, and we’ve looked at implementing a parking validation program," Clark explained.
These options don’t sound good to business owner Michelle Beamer who says the changes are going to hurt small businesses like hers.
"It comes at a cost to a small business owner. It's not thinking about the needs of a business owner," Beamer said.
She wants the city to focus its efforts more on business vacancy than parking.
"I think the bigger thing to focus on is the 'for lease' signs up and down State Street which is the equivalent to urban blight," Beamer said.
Any changes the city is considering will be implemented on July 1, 2024. Until then the city is asking for input from stakeholders and the community.
"So that we can hopefully end up at a financial and operational situation that is beneficial to downtown and keeps the parking system on good financial footing," Clark said.
To share your input on parking downtown, you can attend the upcoming parking committee meeting on Thursday, March 14, at 7:30 a.m. in the David Gebhard Public Meeting Room located at 630 Garden Street.
