Lucas Defends Electronic Parking Meter System to Transportation Committee

Manalapan Township Committee is considering installing an electronic system to collect daily parking fees at its three commuter lots. At the committee’s meeting on Wednesday, July 6, members said the new system is estimated to cost $50,000. This price does not include maintenance costs.

In 2009, the township purchased and installed collection boxes for the opening of two new lots, Franklin Lane lot and Symmes Drive lot, at a total cost of $10,000. Commuters pay the daily fee by placing cash in the honor box. An honor box is a large, locked metal box with numbered compartments, each associated with a parking space. The compartments have small slits, just wide enough to insert folded cash. When parking for the day, commuters are responsible for placing $2 in the appropriate compartment of the honor box.

The Transportation Committee agreed that an electronic system will allow greater controls around township auditing. Both the Department of Public Works and the Police Department are currently responsible for retrieving cash from the honor boxes. 

Transportation Committee members are unsure if there is a procedure in place and enforced regarding the collection of cash. John Castronovo, manager of internal audit investigations at AIG and Transportation Committee member, said there is no log of fees collected, who collected them, when they are collected, or which lots they come from.

Some members reported seeing the boxes filled with cash, indicating that cash is not retrieved on a daily basis.

“I think we need to add more controls to the current system,” Anthony Musich, co-chair of the committee, said.

The township has 250 daily parking spaces, each with a $2 fee. Castronovo estimates this generates roughly $40,000 in revenue each year. “That’s a very conservative estimate,” he said. “If we have a collection problem, I think we have to implement tighter controls around the collection process.”

Transportation Committee members also agreed an electronic system will add greater checks-and-balances to disputed parking tickets.

“We are here to help residents and commuters, and help the town control costs,” Musich said.

In an email message Thursday morning from Mayor Andrew Lucas to Susan Cohen, Transportation Committee member, Lucas responded to questions regarding the Township Committee’s proposal to purchase an electronic parking meter system for its commuter lots.

Lucas said the reason for an electronic system is to allow judges greater capabilities for enforcing parking tickets.

“Michelle Roth, as mayor in 2008, bought the honor boxes,” Lucas said. “No one realized the judge would not be able to find anyone guilty (of parking violations) because there was no receipt.”

Lucas told Cohen and the Transportation Committee that the Township Clerk and CFO are responsible for making sure money in the honor boxes is collected properly.

Police officers can identify unpaid parking spots by opening the honor box and seeing which compartments are empty.  They can then write parking violation tickets for any unpaid spots.

The Department of Public Works also has the authority to collect cash from the honor boxes. It does not have the authority to write parking violation tickets.

“Lots are checked daily,” Lucas said in his email to Cohen. “However, people are discovering they aren’t getting tickets, so revenue is down.”

Lucas also said that township police officers are not keeping a record of how many parking tickets they write.

Cohen asked Lucas how the township will make up the $50k cost of installing an electronic system. Lucas responded “It’s needed if we want people to actually pay for their spots."

Lucas also told Cohen that surplus equipment, like the honor boxes if an electronic system is installed, usually goes to auction.

Cohen said she will distribute Lucas’s email to the Transportation Committee. The committee has not yet determined its stance on the purchase.