Parking increase: AHEC is pilfering your pocketbooks

By Dave Flomberg
The Metropolitan

First they rape us, then they tell us to like it.

Iām speaking of my old foil, Auraria parking.

Last week, The Metropolitan reported Auraria is going to raise parking fees by an average of 50 cents per space. This increase could happen as early as summer session, we were told.

According to Dean Wolf, Aurariaās executive vice president for Administration, students here are getting one hell of a deal.

ćWeāve avoided two rate increases in the past,ä Wolf said. ćInflation hits everybody.ä

Director of Parking and Transportation Services Mark Gallagher colored an even prettier picture.

ćDue to frugal operations, weāve avoided raising fees three times,ä he said.
 

I say, letās avoid it a fourth (or third) time. In fact, letās not raise parking costs at all. We donāt have to.

Auraria parking generates about $4.5 million annually, Gallagher said.

Part of that money goes to operating his office, part of it goes into reserves, and part of it goes into paying off the bond Auraria acquired in 1991. That bond was for $22 million. The biggest piece of the pie? You guessed it.
Markās office.

His people get $2 million a year to operate. The bond gets $1.3 million, and the balance goes to reserves.

If Auraria had poured every cent of the parking revenue into paying back the bond, it would have been paid off by now, leaving a $9.5 million surplus.

Iām no accountant, but Iām pretty confident I could run the parking services here with an annual budget of $1.4 million. I run my household budget off what I make writing for this rag and my weekly plasma donations.

Hell, Iāll do it for tuition.

The point is, there is absolutely no reason on this planet we should be paying more for parking. We already pay more for parking than some of the tenants in the condos south of the school pay in rent.

This increase has professors wanting to break windows, support staff breaking piggy banks, and itās breaking studentsā backs.

We already get nickeled and dimed to death here, and 50 cents a extra a day is simply unacceptable. You can bet we wonāt be receiving 50 cents extra in services.

The charge to the self-supporting and prosperous parking office: Trim your fat. Itās time to lay off your parking gestapo, drop your management and open your gates. If students have to start paying another 50 cents a day to park, then itās time for a revolution.

The charge to students is this: Refuse to pay it. Park in hourly lots and drive over embankments if you have to.
Bribe parking attendants.

Steal parking permits.

Do whatever you have to, but donāt pay this fee.