TREASURER’S OFFICE
Adam L. Layne, Treasurer
CITY OF SAINT LOUIS | MISSOURI
“Transparency, integrity, & service”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 27, 2021
Contact: Felice McClendon, Communications Director, 314-498-5656 [email protected]
Treasurer Adam L. Layne Highlights How Moderate Ticket and Parking Meter
Rate Increases Add Funding to Strengthen the Future of St. Louis
St. Louis- Today, Treasurer Adam L. Layne is highlighting how the October 1st increase in parking tickets and meter rates will help fund the future of progress in St. Louis. According to the City, it gives St. Louis a competitive advantage to increase the money generated from parking tickets and fines to stay on track with trending advancements in technology generated solutions. While a $5 increase could almost be undiscernible for some, the value of the increase is a benefit to all, as it helps move critical city infrastructure into the future. “As a revenue generating office, our on-street parking operations are able to add value to the City with these additional funds, allowing the City of St. Louis to carry out essential services, make much needed improvements, and bolster its financial health and credit rating to truly make a difference moving forward.”
– City of St. Louis, Treasurer Adam L. Layne
According to the St. Louis Parking Administrator, Leonard Freeman, St. Louis is still ranked last for our rate of parking fines and has not raised parking fines and meter rates in over 6 years (July 1, 2015). Even after parking increases go into effect, St. Louis will still be found at the bottom of the list when comparing the cost of fines to other cities, as St. Louis has conducted multiple parking studies over the last decade to analyze our rates compared to those of other major US cities. But there is a fee to fuel progress. By increasing rates, St. Louis will be able to implement new tech advancement initiatives like dynamic pricing, opportunities for businesses to use parking spaces for outdoor seating and decreasing traffic congestion during sports games and concerts in the City. These advancements for our city are only possible through making these small increases for the greater good. With plans to introduce sustainable energy to cut down on our carbon footprint, city administrators want St. Louisans to understand, these are just some of the ways St. Louis is reinvesting those dollars into the future of STL. Making this progress increasingly difficult was the vote last year by the Board of Aldermen to strip $5 million from the Parking Division in addition to the $11 million in recent years, handcuffing our progress and operations especially during the pandemic when we saw revenues decrease by 43%. “We need St. Louis to move into the future with parking and sustainability. By making small increases to the parking fines we can make substantial increases in our technology efforts with on-street parking and garages. We are poised to lean more into contactless and reserve parking as well as sustainable energy sources in reducing the St. Louis’ carbon footprint…these are increases that help fund our future.”
– City of St. Louis, Treasurer Adam L. Layne
Effective on October 1, the City of St. Louis, will increase parking fines by $5 in the following classes:
Class 1: $15 to $20 (parking meter & street cleaning violations)
Class 2: $25 to $30 (minor parking violations)
Class 3: $40 to $45 (public safety parking violations)
Classes 4 & 5: will remain the same
Parking meter rates will increase by .50 (from $1 to $1.50 in low demand areas and $1.50 to $2 in high demand areas) Finally, it’s imperative to note, St. Louis is firmly positioned as a market leader across the country, only second to San Francisco, when it comes to reinvesting parking fees to support building Children’s Savings Accounts (CSAs). Parking tickets support College Savings Accounts for students in the City of St. Louis so that they may have a brighter future and know that the city cares about them and wants them to grow and thrive here. Ultimately, Treasurer Layne hopes to see the Office of Financial Empowerment further reinvest parking funds to fuel more of the much-needed social change efforts and community initiatives.
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About Treasurer Adam L. Layne
Treasurer Adam Layne was appointed in April of 2021 to succeed the former Treasurer, Tishaura O. Jones, after winning a historic election as St. Louis’ first Black Woman to be Mayor. One of his most notable efforts include his leadership and launch of the Parking and Towing Assistance Program (PTAP), a program that creates payment plans for St. Louisans with multiple fines, allowing them to freeze their fees, and pay off their balances in smaller amounts. An experienced elected official, he finished first in his 2019 race for the St. Louis Public School (SLPS) Board where he advocated relentlessly for every school to be a quality school and helped create and chair the Standing Committee on Budget Equity & Transparency. A proud graduate of the George Washington University School of Business, Treasurer Layne received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and went on to earn a Master of Education from the University of Missouri-St Louis. Today, Treasurer Layne is committed to bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion best practices to support the work of the Treasurer’s Office and Parking Division. With strategic plans to increase transparency, integrity, and service, Treasurer Layne has also helped shaped the growth of the Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) where he is able to help St. Louisans make better financial choices, including participating in OFE’s College Kids Program that has helped over 18,000 public school students start educational savings accounts, with over $1.4 million saved to give children in St. Louis a better future. To learn more visit: www.stltreasurer.org, www.parklouie.com, www.STLCollegeKids.org, and www.stlofe.org.