(The Center Square) – Seattle is expected to lose nearly $9 million in parking meter revenue by 2026, as demand plateaus and hourly rates drop for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The parking meter revenue drop is part of a larger $241.5 million shortfall projected for the city’s general fund through 2026, excluding grants and transfers.
Parking meter revenue is projected to fall $2.7 million short in 2025 and $5.9 million short in 2026. This decrease is under the Seattle Economic and Revenue Forecast Council’s pessimistic forecast, which the city council considered more likely than its baseline forecast due to global economic uncertainty.
Dave Hennes with the Seattle City Budget Office explained that there is a combination of two factors driving the decrease in on-street parking revenues.
“The first is that for the first time since the pandemic there was an overall decrease in parking rates (i.e. more areas warranted a decrease in rates than an increase in rates),” Hennes said to The Center Square in an email.
The latest street parking rate adjustments were made on March 10, with more than two-thirds of parking rates remaining unadjusted and 17% decreasing. Only 11% of parking rates increased.
The city maintains a policy goal of having one to two parking spaces available on every block face. The transportation department adjusts parking rates across the city on a seasonal basis in order to achieve this goal. SDOT assesses on-street parking demand by neighborhood area and sub-area twice a year to determine necessary rate adjustments.
“With the average rate projected to be lower, revenue decreases,” Hennes explained.
The second factor in decreasing revenue is demand or paid usage. Paid usage of parking in Seattle has plateaued, but the cause remains unclear. This was noted in the Seattle Economic and Revenue Forecast Council meeting on April 10.
Hennes said it’s too early to tell whether the plateau in demand is temporary or long-term.
The Seattle Department of Transportation told The Center Square that there are no direct impacts on transportation funding when parking revenues decline.
“When parking revenues decline, the City Budget Office treats it like any other General Fund revenue decline and evaluates options to manage shortfalls alongside citywide needs,” SDOT Press Secretary Ethan Bergerson said to The Center Square in an email.
