Andrew Grimes received a parking ticket for taking up two spaces last semester, and afterwards, he had the same question that runs through the minds of many students.
"What the hell do they do with my money?" asked Grimes, an undeclared freshman. "They're trying to get money whenever they can."
Gary Thomson, associate director for Parking and Transportation Services, said the department does not make a profit from parking tickets and parking permits because all the money that comes in pays for garages, new Zone 1 lots and services such as CatTran.
PTS is an auxiliary service, meaning it receives no money from the state or from tuition.
Instead, it pays a service fee to administrators for overhead costs such as payroll.
"The revenue we generate from things such as parking and garage permits and visitor parking goes to new parking lots, paying off debts of existing parking garages, salaries and shuttles," Thomson said. "We are not here to make a profit. If we should have a surplus, we pay for new garages or the debts."
CatTran, the Daytime Disability Cart Service, and the Motorist Assistance Program are all services provided to students with the help of funds generated by parking tickets and parking permits, Thomson said.
"The revenue we generate goes back to free services on campus for all students," he said.
The PTS budget of $10 million per year is split up into many different categories that show exactly where students' money is going.
Debt service for the six existing parking structures takes up 30 percent of the budget, and another 30 percent is spent on parking programs, personnel and operations.
The other 40 percent of the budget is spent on programs such as new garage and lot developments and alternative transportation programs.
Garage permits, which cost students $450, are necessary to pay for the construction of new parking garages.
It costs PTS about $10,000-$12,000 per parking space to build a new garage, which translates into a total cost of $15-$18 million, Thomson said.
The comprehensive campus plan calls for the construction of additional garages to ease traffic congestion on campus.
Last year, the Sixth Street Garage opened. In August 2005, the Highland Garage will open with 1,500 spaces.
In addition to funds generated by garage permits, PTS also takes in money from students who pay $235 for a Zone 1 permit or $115 for the academic year for a park-and-ride lot. The majority of parking citations are in the $25 - $50 range.
Cassie Sparrold, a senior majoring in English, said the cost of the permit is way too much to ask a student to pay.
"I share a Zone 1 parking pass with my best friend," she said. "It's really expensive, so I had to share."