Q Condos (20 Queen St N) | 34 fl | Proposed

[ijmorlan]

Isn't parking one of the three Enterprises that are run as for-profit entities of the city?  (Kitchener Utilities is one, I think KW Hydro is the other)

Coke

Yes, but my understanding the parking enterprise is only responsible for operational costs, not capital. Easy to make money charging for access to a "free" garage. New garage construction comes from the general city capital budget.

Actually, even on operational costs, from The Record

Despite all of these factors, the parking enterprise is making a net profit for the city, Readman points out - it was $409,000 in the black in 2017.

Subsidies for city parking lots
Each year, the city transfers $1.2 million from its economic development reserve funds to the city's parking enterprise. Most of that covers lost parking income to provide free parking on downtown streets and at the market.

Really easy to make a $0.4 million profit when you're receiving a $1.2 million subsidy.

Hang on a second. This sounds like the City paying the parking enterprise to provide free (to the user) parking. In other words, the parking operation is covering its operating expenses. Imagine hypothetically the parking enterprise were a private corporation which owned the parking garages and street parking spaces. They could charge for parking, but they would also (presumably) be happy to accept money in a block grant from the City to make some of the street parking spaces available for free to all comers.

That being said, if the parking enterprise isn’t clearing enough surplus to pay for a hypothetical mortgage on the purchase and construction costs of their properties, then they are being subsidized. A real parking business needs to buy vacant land, build the parking facilities, and then operate the parking operation.