Parking Services generates almost 3 million yearly, mostly from vehicle registration

The revenue accumulated through Parking Services goes toward capital projects all over the university.

It all goes to the university, which is divided up by the university, said CMU Police Chief Bill Yeagley.

The expenditure budget for the amount of money accumulated has stayed constant for the last four years, according to information from Parking Services Yeagley provided.

The bulk of the money Parking Services accumulates comes from parking registration.

The fiscal year begins July 1 and ends on June 30, Yeagley said. The total amount of revenue in the 2007 to 2008 year was $2,862,464, then $2,844,313 in 2008 to 2009 and $2,767,030 in 2009 to 2010, Yeagley said.

So far during the 2010-2011 fiscal year, $2,377,480 has been accumulated 82 percent of which has come from vehicle registration.

According to the data, about $700,000 of the total revenue generated has been spent each year.

Taylor Burnell, a freshman from Waterford, did not realize how much the university received each year from Parking Services.

I was surprised by the amount they make, Burnell said. It seems like a lot of money for something so small.

Livonia sophomore Brittany Harris said she does not think Parking Services should charge as much as they do for campus parking passes.

Commuters have to pay $175 to park somewhere, she said.

Just over 50 percent of the potential revenue from parking citations are lost because of appeals on average each year, Yeagley said.

Were trying to be fair and reasonable with students, Yeagley said. Ninety-nine percent of the time the person is wrong.