Jefferson City sees 18% more expired meter tickets after parking fine rate change
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Jefferson City has issued about 18% more parking tickets for expired meters through the first half of 2026 than it did during the same period last year, the first year the city has contracted with a private company to manage parking enforcement.
Records obtained by ABC 17 News show the city issued 4,674 expired meter citations between Jan. 6-June 30, compared with 3,963 during the same period in 2025.
The increase comes after Jefferson City contracted with PCI Municipal Services LLC to provide parking management and enforcement beginning this year. The City Council also increased the fine for expired meters from $6 to $25 to help cover the cost of the contract.
"The City did contract with PCI to provide professional parking management and enforcement, and as the data reflects, there has been an increase in parking enforcement activity compared to the previous year under the City's prior model," city spokesperson Molly Bryan said in an email to ABC 17 News.
Ticket totals were higher early in the year before gradually declining each month. The city issued 998 expired meter tickets in January; 1,020 in February; 840 in March; 696 in April; 635 in May and 485 in June.
During the same months in 2025, the city issued 182 tickets in January; 639 in February; 1,110 in March; 889 in April; 546 in May and 597 in June.
ABC 17 News also requested records showing how much revenue the city or PCI has collected from parking citations this year. Bryan said those records are not immediately available.
The increase in enforcement comes as downtown parking has become a point of frustration for some residents following the demolition of the Madison Street parking garage to make way for the city's new conference center. The garage's closure, combined with higher parking rates and increased fines, has drawn criticism from some downtown visitors.
ABC 17 News spoke with a dozen people downtown Tuesday. Five said they were visiting Jefferson City and were unfamiliar with the parking changes. One couple said they do not live in the city, while another person said she uses public transportation and does not own a vehicle. Two others declined interviews but said they were unhappy with the combination of fewer parking options and higher parking costs.
Jefferson City resident Stephanie Gladbach, who has lived in the city since 2000, said finding parking downtown has become increasingly difficult.
"Parking downtown is terrible," Gladbach said. "They took down the garage because of political nonsense that no one wants to deal with anymore. The current City Council seems determined to remove as many parking options as possible and increase parking rates."
Gladbach said city leaders often point to the total number of parking spaces available downtown, but she believes many are too far from where people need to go.
"If you talk to anyone on the council about it, they say, 'Oh, there's 1,500 spots downtown,' except downtown extends from Lafayette all the way to Highway 50. I'm not parking at Lafayette to go to the Truman Building. And I'm not parking at the Truman Building to go to the library, especially not when we're in the middle of a heat wave and it's 95 degrees outside," she said.
While Gladbach said she understands why the city increased parking rates, she said she disagrees with the decision.
"I know we're in a budget crisis and get all that, but it's only hurting downtown businesses when it's hard to park downtown. When rates are up downtown, you are harming the people whose livelihood depends on people coming downtown. You're only going to hurt us in the long run, especially because downtown is one of our best spots to come see in Jeff City. You make it harder to be downtown. You're only hurting everyone," Gladbach said.
ABC 17 News has submitted a Sunshine Law request seeking records showing how much revenue the city has collected from parking citations since PCI began managing parking enforcement.
