r/Eugene • u/OreganoTimeSage • 2d ago
News Eugene budget spends more on parking enforcement than CAHOOTS
These are some excerpts of the previous budget the city approved.
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u/dwayne-billy-bob 2d ago
Wait until you hear about the $84 million we spend on EPD and the return on that money.
At least parking services sometimes comes and tows away abandoned RVs, boats, etc.
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u/nicnat 1d ago
84$ million and they still have call response times so atrocious that even their own officers are annoyed at them. I worked at a corner store downtown for about 5 years, it was a "good" week when I didn't need to call the police. Literally 90% of the time they just wouldn't respond. I had a lady running in the street and assaulting people, at least four people including myself called to report it. I watched her continue harassing everyone walking by for about 2 hours until she finally left. I got a call back 5 hours later asking if she was still there. Later I saw her on the news for attempting to crawl through someones apartment window.
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u/jacob114489 1d ago
It’s not just office 365. This includes all the Windows OS licenses, Active Directory, office licenses, and everything else listed. It’s just poorly labeled
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u/Dan_D_Lyin 2d ago
Remember that city parking ordinance we passed recently that required all vehicles to be moved every 72 hours because people were pissed off at all the people living in RVs and cars?
That's ridiculously expensive to enforce. Towing and impounding all those vehicles, charging fines that are never paid, etc.
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u/Jthundercleese 2d ago edited 1d ago
You think the city* is responsible for towing and storing cars? 😂
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u/Dan_D_Lyin 2d ago
We're talking about the city's budget
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u/Jthundercleese 1d ago
You think the city is responsible for towing and impounding cars?
Those are all private, predatory businesses that are very lucrative.
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u/Dan_D_Lyin 1d ago
Either the city does it, or pays someone else to do it. Either way, it's expensive and part of the city budget.
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u/Jthundercleese 1d ago
You realize tow companies make money off the cars they tow, right?
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u/Dan_D_Lyin 1d ago
That is very obvious and has nothing to do with the city budget.
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u/Jthundercleese 1d ago
Yet you included their business practices as a responsibility of the city in your original comment.
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u/Moarbrains 1d ago
I think that due to Oregon law it is difficult to get rid of abandoned vehicles. I had to move a bunch of cars off of private land and without titles it was going to cost me $200 each. There is a whole slew of notices, DMV papers and notifications necessary before you can sell it and you have to store it during that time.
Just saying it is not the goldmine you think it is. That would be an impound lot for people who do want their car back and will pay for it.
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u/Mantis_Toboggan--MD 2d ago
I don't understand how parking enforcement could even cost that much... $8,981,000 / 365 days = $24,605 a day. Absolutely wild. What the heck is going there? Does anyone have any insight on what all that pays for?
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u/Specialist_Cow6468 2d ago
Their site probably goes into it in more detail but I would guess it’s also used for operating the city owned parking structures downtown. Those sorts of facilities tend to be shockingly expensive
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u/Mantis_Toboggan--MD 2d ago
Ah okay, that makes a bit more sense than what I was thinking. I had interpreted it as just the budget for like the meter readers and their department or something like that.
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u/OreganoTimeSage 2d ago
I don't know. I know there are two additional line items parking structure program (7 million), and parking case processing (1 million)
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u/-slip-n-slide- 2d ago
I recently got into the parking world (not with the City), and it's more complex than I initially thought. Just for some rough points, you've got:
- Enforcement staff to cover the whole city, including salaries + benefits, uniforms, vehicles, mobile devices for license plate lookups, ticket printers, and other related supplies. Many operations also utilize cars fitted with Automatic License Plate Recognition systems for usage data collection and time-limit enforcement.
- You need a whole administrative office to cover citation processing, citation appeals, event coordination, customer service, IT support, and standard office expenses like computer equipment and mailing costs.
- Modern parking management relies on specialized software for tracking citations, permits, billing, and more, and that is not cheap!
While there might be opportunities for some cost reductions, as with many large government institutions, once you break it down to the the individual line items, the costs start to seem less absurd.
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u/OreganoTimeSage 1d ago
Would you join me at City Hall next week on Wednesday? I'm going to be talking about seeking savings and improvement ideas from everyday employees. It would help if you were there to talk about some cost reduction opportunities you've seen.
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u/OreganoTimeSage 2d ago
I don't know. I know there are two additional line items parking structure program (7 million), and parking case processing (1 million)
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u/Firecloud 2d ago
Not only have I never gotten a parking ticket in Eugene (nor have I ever paid for parking here, a self-indulgent little experiment four years running), I don't think I've even seen anyone writing a parking ticket, or one tucked under someone's wiper, awaiting their return.
I'd LOVE to know where that money actually goes.
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u/mouse_puppy 2d ago
My understanding is that parking is revenue neutral. They generate revenue from parking fees to cover their operations.
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u/Mantis_Toboggan--MD 2d ago
Even if that is the case which I hope it is, how could it possibly cost that much to have parking enforcement? I'm honestly curious if anyone knows what that nearly $9m pays for. Seems like an extremely bloated figure.
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u/CBTprovider 2d ago
It wouldn’t take much creativity to fund CAHOOTS from the “public safety” budget. Surely it saves police and EMS from taking the calls and is an important component of our public safety system.
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u/FraggedYourMom 2d ago
I'm down for moving the $3M on Office into CAHOOTS and switch everyone to LibreOffice and Thunderbird.
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u/AnonymousGirl911 2d ago
Well fuck I better learn how to use a parking meter 😩
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u/EUGsk8rBoi42p 2d ago
Would help if the city put the change boxes back in, pretending they're "in repair" on the meters to get around state mandated physical tender is dishonest and sets a poor precedent. Someone should sue them, max personal injury in Oregon is $500k. You can bet that poor and disabled people are missing vital appointment due to lack of making payment methods for parking accessible.
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u/Firewind 2d ago
That isn't what happened with the parking meters. There were dedicated groups that were robbing them. At one point last year almost every single meter either had the doors knocked open, or the locks were jammed and unable to be open.
The city literally ran out of spare parts to fix them, and didn't have the funds to order more. There was reporting on this last year. So quit with the conspiratorial nonsense.
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u/EUGsk8rBoi42p 2d ago
Man, you'd think that would be noticeable to the police. Excuses are unacceptable. Parking should be free rather than victimizing the poor. Someone with an overdrawn bank account who has change on them shouldn't be gatekept from parking due to elitist city policy.
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u/Dan_D_Lyin 2d ago
There's plenty of free parking if you're willing to park a few blocks away. Or you could just take the bus.
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u/MonkeyFlowerFace 1d ago
Please don't assume that because walking or taking the bus is accessible to you that it is possible for everyone else.
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u/Dan_D_Lyin 1d ago
Maybe not everyone, but if you're able to drive downtown you probably are able to take the bus. There are also free accessible spots all over, right next to entrances of businesses for people who can't walk a few blocks from the free parking spaces. I bus regularly so I know it's accessible for people who use walkers, scooters, wheelchairs, canes, and even people who are blind and/or use service animals. There's even a special bus you can call that will take you directly from your front door to doctor appointments and that sort of thing.
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u/MonkeyFlowerFace 1d ago
There are accessibility issues with the bus besides just physical/mobility limitations. And sometimes I travel in a car with a friend or family member, and if they can't park close that is a problem. Not all disabilities are visible, and not all disabilities are the ones you're used to seeing. That is truly great that our bus system has so many accommodations for people with mobility problems. But it does not remove all the various barriers for all the kinds of disabled people out there. A lot more work needs to be done.
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u/Dan_D_Lyin 1d ago
Yes, that's true, but removing parking meters wouldn't help.
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u/MonkeyFlowerFace 1d ago
Right. Providing more accessible parking would help, and providing meters that accept coins and cards would help. Every removal of a barrier is a small win.
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u/EUGsk8rBoi42p 1d ago
Society should just, work, without lifestyle gymnastics that punish the poor.
Citizens shouldn't have to do workarounds just because city admin is worthless and only considers the welfare of the wealthy.2
u/MonkeyFlowerFace 1d ago
Not just the poor, but the disabled too. Not everyone is able to walk a few blocks from their parking spot.
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u/Firecloud 2d ago
Where is this enormous crunch of people trying to park every day? I don't see it. There's almost always parking available within a block or two of your destination. Traffic jams in Eugene are maybe 15 cars deep and clear up within 2 red light changes. We're just not heavily populated enough that this is an issue at all. Seems we're getting a little out of touch on the handwringing and finger-wagging here.
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u/EUGsk8rBoi42p 2d ago
Eugene could double the available funds just by ticketing all the absolute assholes that throw on "park anywhere" lights and then use the bike lane as a food pickup zone. Doing Doordash/GrubHub doesn't mean you can risk people's lives by using bike lanes for car parking, however brief.
Should be like $500 for first offense... $1,000 for every following incident.
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u/southpaw_balboa 2d ago
absolutely ludicrous take lmao
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u/EUGsk8rBoi42p 2d ago
Nah man, those people belong in a gulag for life.
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u/southpaw_balboa 2d ago
just….go around? i ride my bike all over the place and this simply isn’t a real issue. just go around. you’re not “risking your life” any more than you do by going outside.
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u/Firecloud 2d ago
You raise a good point entirely by accident - this city badly needs more mental health resources.
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u/TotesRaunch 2d ago
Parking enforcement generates revenue, cahoots is a social service that costs money. Obviously and unfortunately, they're gonna spend more money on something that makes money.
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u/Shoddy-Violinist-608 2d ago
Net neutrality. CAHOOTS saves EPD and ESFD enough money to possibly even be net positive.
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u/WonderousWarlock 2d ago
Sorry for making the recreation budget so high, teen center was not a very successful program when we still got paid to show up and do nothing when there were no participants
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u/OreganoTimeSage 2d ago
I don't know if the recreation budget is too high. The city should strive to make this a nice place to live. Parks and recreation are part of that. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.
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u/WonderousWarlock 2d ago
Oh no I totally agree, I think rec is in desperate need of proper funding to properly function and serve the city, it’s just so poorly allocated
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u/Firewind 2d ago
Is this just for enforcement or is it also dealing with maintaining the equipment? If it includes the latter, I'm curious how much of that is slotted to repairs for the parking meters. There was 3 or 4 dedicated individuals that were breaking into the parking meters for their coins. That's why the city had to remove almost all the vault doors on all the individual meters you see downtown.
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u/OreganoTimeSage 1d ago
I don't know. I know there are two additional line items parking structure program (7 million), and parking case processing (1 million)
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u/Blabulus 1d ago
Yet 80% of public pearl clutching will be about those horrible mentally ill and homeless people I had to see downtown yesterday!
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u/TheRealAerosynth 1d ago
I don't drive to downtown. Parking is ridiculous. I got a $200 dollar find when my motorcycle front tire was touching the line. So no more. When I do visit downtown, it by bicycle only. And usually when the weather is good enough to ride. It's killing downtown.
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u/Throwaway2649492 2d ago
Parking enforcement actually earns money. Cahoots does not. Shocker.
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u/Shoddy-Violinist-608 2d ago
Almost net positive and reduces police violence, to me that’s priceless and a way to deteriorate a poor policing system.
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u/redactedanalyst 2d ago
It's almost like they deliberately took out CAHOOTS because they resent the population CAHOOTS provides for and are intentionally trying to undermine their ability to access resources and safety! But it definitely couldn't be the case! That would be inhumane!
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u/southpaw_balboa 2d ago
eugene park narcs are way too excited to be doing that job. and the parking laws here are insane.
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u/WoeVRade 2d ago
Parking enforcement - Necessary service that keeps parking available for people that actually spend money on goods and services in the community, thus perpetuating the healthy cycle of commerce-taxes-services-commerce
CAHOOTS - Money literally set on fire for drug addicts to fuck up over and over again while ruining downtown with their garbage and bullshit
I wonder why one of these has a larger budget than the other...
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u/erossthescienceboss 2d ago
CAHOOTS handles around 20% of all Eugene and Springfield 911 (and 70% of those calls do not end up requiring additional first responders. That means they were resolved without police, fire, or ambulance involvement.)
CAHOOTS costs Eugene less than 3 million.
In 2020, the police budget was 60 million.
Do you really want expensive police man hours — funded by your taxes — to be wasted on those calls?
Do you want ambulance rides that will never get paid for to be sent instead, driving up the costs of those operations for everyone?
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u/WoeVRade 2d ago
No, but I want solutions, not stop-gap measures
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u/erossthescienceboss 2d ago
Maybe we can use all that money CAHOOTS saves to work on some!
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u/WoeVRade 2d ago
Maybe you can explain how having a separate administration and organization saves money? Why not just take the three million, give it to EMS, buy a few more ambulances and hire some more people, and have one organization and one set of administration, instead of two? I bet with the money you save on managers and administration, you could hire even more paramedics than CAHOOTS has now.
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u/erossthescienceboss 2d ago
I did in my first post. CAHOOTS is already doing that work with a substantially lower budget. Because they’re small and targeted, they have a lot less administrative bloat.
Plus, most EMS outside of fire departments is privatized these days. We’d literally just be handing over money to a random group of random companies, many owned by national conglomerates, and going “lol hope it helps!”
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u/GarmBlack 2d ago edited 2d ago
CAHOOTS did so much more than that. In the ice storm last year, they got people from their frozen powerless homes to safe sites and warming centers. Including many (housed) elderly folks.
They resolved disputes within families.
They did death notifications so families could be told by a trained mental health associate instead of a police officer their loved one had passed.
They helped people get to appointments so they could continue their treatment, and stay on a good path.
They assisted the police in deescalating mental health crises, making the situation safer for police AND clients.
They helped suicidal teens literally off ledges.
I don't know about you, but for me? They were heroes.
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u/Imaginary-Quiet-4556 2d ago
CAHOOTS? You mean the snack taxi with pamphlets? Yeah they don’t actually do anything but cart around people who already had services available to them. You can down vote me into oblivion if you want, but all CAHOOTS does is move around problems, they’re not fixing anything. CAHOOTS tricks you into making you feel good about yourself when in reality we need mandatory mental health solutions. How about some legislative changes regarding mental health.
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u/OreganoTimeSage 2d ago
Last year Eugene spent a bit less than 3 million on CAHOOTS.
They spent 3 million on Microsoft 365.
9 million on parking enforcement
13 million on parks and rec
And there are a bunch of other items of course but my point is CAHOOTS is not expensive. They provide a very valuable service and at a fraction the cost it would take to replace them with police or fire.
If the city needs to find money they can do it elsewhere.