UPDATED: Council reveal how parking charge profits are spent in Carlow
Parking profits were down on 2016 when the Council made €260,000 from charges
Carlow County Council have responded to reports that they made over €176,000 in profits from parking charges in 2017 and that there were seven parking fines being issued on average every day in Carlow last year.
However, parking profits were down on 2016 when the Council made €260,000 from charges.
There were an average of seven fines issued every day in 2017 with a total of 2,617 issued across the twelve months.
The Council said "any income generated from Pay Parking which exceeds the cost of the service is used to fund road/footpath maintenance, street cleaning etc".
Carlow Live put a series of questions to the local authority on the parking charge figures.
The Council's response - provided by Director of Services, Pat Delaney, is outlined below:
Could you explain that figures as I believe there are two parking wardens in Carlow? What other costs are there?
Costs associated with Pay Parking include (Traffic Wardens, Maintenance of Pay & Display Machines, General Maintenance of Carparks, Cash in Transit Services).
The Council made over €175,000 in profits from parking charges across the county in 2017 and profits of €260,000 in 2016. The income generated from parking charges came to €399,936 in 2017 and €433,005 in 2016. Would you comment on the profits from parking revenues and give a general idea as to where they were spent?
Costs associated with Pay Parking will fluctuate from year to year depending on the level of maintenance required .
Income will fluctuate for reasons such as extended free parking periods e.g. Christmas period
Any Income generated from Pay Parking which exceeds the cost of the service is used to fund road / footpath maintenance , street cleaning etc.
There were also an average of seven fines issue every day in 2017, are you satisfied with this figure?
I will ask our Roads Dept. to verify the figures.
Council Car Parks (for Off Street Parking) include: Townhall, Greenbank, Workman's, Plas na Saoirse, Brown Street, Bus Park, Pembroke, VISUAL, Water Lane/Kennedy Street/Perrys.