For those who always seem to get a ticket for parking violations on campus and question where the money goes, speculate no longer. Florida A&M University uses parking and ticket fees for the Public Safety and Transportation’s $6 million plus expenses, said Mary Adams, manager of FAMU’s Department of Public Safety’s Business.
The revenue collected from parking and decal violations pay for FAMU’s Public Safety Department, according to Adams. Violation fines range from $15 to $250. All profits support the department’s expenses.
She also said parking and transportation fees are a part of every student’s tuition. The total cost of a fall, spring and summer term is $139.65. The university places emphasis on charging no extra cost on decal and transportation services.
FAMU makes sure that its students can park in the university’s parking garage completely free of charge. The Public Safety Department uses ticket money and transportation fees to pay for a combination of items. One of the main costs is the general parking garage mortgage.
“The dollars that are generated, are used to support the transportation infrastructure,” Adams said. “Everybody wants a new parking garage but they have to give back first.”
The cost of a new parking garage is between $13,000 and $16,000 per parking space.
The university’s parking garage houses a little over 400 spaces. These figures show that FAMU is paying around $6 million for its current garage, according to the Public Safety Department.
Assistant Chief James Lockley said parking services does not receive money from the state.
He said the department is funded by student fees, parking tickets and decals.
“Parking services doesn’t get a dime from the state,” said Lockley, of the FAMU Police Department. According to Lockley, parking relations, decals and parking services are paid for with the university’s parking fees.
Free shuttles for FAMU students are paid for with the money raised. Shuttle expenses include the bus repairs, driver salaries and gas.
The daily cost of a temporary decal for Rattlers who have not previously registered their cars is $3.23. Vendors are charged a daily fee of $4.84.
Though ticket money is needed to support certain expenses, faculty and students can avoid ticket fines by following the decal and parking policies.
“We try to make things easy for [students], all they need to do is register,” said Abi Latinwo, the Accountant for the Department of Public Safety.
For more information on FAMU parking permits and regulations please visit www.famu.edu.