FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Fort Smith City Director Christina Catsavis urged moving towards a vote to remove downtown parking meters in a July 15 meeting.
The meters were discussed during the board’s study session, where Catsavis said the city “clearly” needs to get out of the parking meter business, pointing to data collected during waived fee periods and saying, “We have bigger fish to fry.”
Parking meter fees were suspended between Nov. 24, 2023, and March 31, 2024, as part of a study, Talk Business & Politics reported in 2024.
A Fort Smith Police Department report concluded that removing the meters would likely have “little to no impact” on local businesses. The board later extended the fee waiver through the end of 2024 and from Jan. 7 to Aug. 1, 2025.
In the July 15 briefing, Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman said meter revenue in 2022 and 2023 totaled just over $130,000, while enforcement costs exceeded $199,000 during that period, a net loss of about $70,000 across the two years.
Dingman noted Sebastian County Judge Steve Hotz wants to keep meters around the courthouse, to which Police Chief Danny Baker said the county could handle maintaining and enforcing those meters.
No board members opposed removing other downtown meters, but no vote has been scheduled yet.
Watch the full July 15 meeting here.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
