JC Parking authority to be brought into Department of Public Safety

JERSEY CITY – Mayor Steven M. Fulop has announced that his administration will present to the City Council at their meeting next week a resolution to authorize an application to the New Jersey Local Finance Board for the consolidation of the Jersey City Parking Authority into the Department of Public Safety.
The consolidation, the mayor said, will save millions in taxpayer dollars, improve enforcement and create greater efficiency and transparency.
As part of the process, the administration will also present to the council next week an ordinance dissolving the agency.
“This consolidation will save millions in taxpayer dollars by reducing redundant administrative costs, will improve the efficiency of enforcement and will allow us to better leverage technology,” said Fulop. “Not only will this improve our parking enforcement operations, but it will also provide for greater enforcement of other public safety and quality of life issues.”
Fulop also noted that the merger would increase accountability and transparency for the public.
The consolidation was studied by the city with a report on the agency’s finances (revenue, expenses, and debt.), operations, enforcement and performance prepared by the law firm Weiner Lesniak, LLP, which will be presented to the City Council.
“Many of the job duties performed by the Parking Authority are already being performed by city staff,” said Fulop. “There is no reason a city taxpayer should be paying twice for the same service.”
Specifically, many of the administrative functions such as payroll, administration of health benefits, etc. can be absorbed by the city staff already performing these duties. The maintenance of Parking Authority lots, for example, could be performed by the City’s Department of Public Works.
In addition to millions of dollars that are spent on duplicative administrative and operations functions that would be greatly reduced by the merger, the report cites potential cost benefits of dissolution in the sale of the agency’s Central Avenue building which is underutilized, reduction in equipment, as well as the utilization of new technology to perform enforcement.
The report also cites the ability of the city to concentrate efforts on the collection of scofflaw and outstanding time payments which total more than $20 million.