SANDPOINT — The City Council is set to decide on a proposed parking management system from IPS Group on Wednesday.

Under the proposed plan, 43 kiosks would be placed across seven different locations downtown, including City Beach and along First and Second Avenue, and one kiosk at the War Memorial Field boat launch. Drivers parking in the two-hour zones and city lots will check in at the kiosk nearest to them and register for their session. 

In areas with allotted parking time, people will still receive that time for free and be allowed to purchase additional time at an hourly rate in order to avoid a citation. City and county residents will be able to purchase parking passes, which will allow them to bypass the hourly rate and park for a specific amount of time. 

“By utilizing kiosks as the enforcement backbone, the system instead introduces a more flexible approach,” Planning and Community Development Director Jason Welker said in the staff report. “Parkers will still receive their free two-hour session, but those who require additional time will have the option to pay the hourly rate beyond that period.” 

To implement the plan, the city would pay IPS around $220,000 for the kiosks and their installation. IPS has quoted the city’s monthly management cost to $1,500, according to the staff report.  

In the staff report, Welker said the city is targeting early summer to have the system operational, if approved on March 4. Prior to implementing the system, the staff report says the city would be conducting public education and outreach. 

"IPS provides an end-to-end parking ecosystem that integrates kiosks, mobile payment platforms, enforcement management software, permit administration, citation processing, collections services and reporting tools within a single system,” Welker writes. “This vertically integrated approach reduces administrative complexity and long-term operational risk by avoiding the need to coordinate multiple independent vendors.”   

The prices for the passes will be up to $15 per year for a city resident and $30 a year for a county resident to park up to eight hours a day, $40 a month for a downtown employee to park for up to 12 hours a day, $80 a month for a downtown resident to park all day and $100 per year for a marina slip holder to park at Dock Street or City Beach, according to the city’s current fee schedule.  

In the staff report, Welker writes that the city resident pass will not generate much revenue for the city but acts as a deterrent for bad actors. Welker writes that he does not recommend eliminating that fee as it would likely increase the number of false residents and increase staff time spent on permitting. 

“A resident who uses City Beach or downtown lots even a few times annually will realize value quickly when compared to hourly parking rates,” Welker writes. “Modest fees such as $15 help maintain accountability and offset system administration costs, while remaining accessible and affordable.” 

The hourly rate for parking is not included in the city’s current fee schedule and will be set by the council at a future meeting. 

IPS Group serves as the parking management system for numerous cities and universities across the United States, including Cincinnati and Seattle. Welker said the choice of IPS would keep the city compliant with Idaho laws, which outlaws the use of license plate recognition technology and traditional tire chalking. 

The proposed resolution is on the agenda for Wednesday’s City Council meeting which will take place at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall.  

    A layout of where the kiosks would go in downtown Sandpoint.