Business
Free 3-hour downtown ramp parking ends, city to charge $1 per hour
Parking in the downtown La Crosse ramps on weekdays will soon cost $1 per hour with no free grace period.
The city’s Board of Public Works approved Monday a policy change, dropping the three-hour free grace period in the ramps during business hours on Monday through Friday and, instead, charging $1 per hour.
The city of La Crosse had permitted some kind of daytime grace period in the ramps on weekdays for about 20 years.
Free parking will still apply at night and on weekends.
La Crosse police argued for the $1-per-hour charge on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the board agreed.
Under the current system, vendors working with City Hall charge service fees for collecting payments by phone and electronic kiosks, and the city apparently loses money if it lets people park for free during daytime hours.
La Crosse Assistant police chief Jason Melby told the board that the service charges add up to about $14,000 a year.