SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The City of San Diego's parking programs at Petco Park and Balboa Park are falling millions of dollars short of original revenue projections as the city faces a $120 million budget deficit.
For Padres games and other major events, anyone parking within a half-mile radius of Petco Park now pays $10 an hour. The city put the program in place last September to help improve mobility and overcome a budget deficit, which was $258 million at the time.
The city originally expected the program to bring in around $6.2 million for the fiscal year. However, seven and a half months in, the city said the revenue stands at $809,053.
Fans pouring into Petco Park expressed frustration over the parking situation, with many avoiding parking around the stadium altogether.
"Parking, yeah, right, you can't do that down here. Better take a trolley, a bus, Uber, cab, something," Kenneth Coleman said.
"100%. We took the trolley," Travis Perkins said.
Perkins said taking the trolley was not something he had done before the new parking program.
When told the city had only made $809,000 from the program so far, Perkins expressed disappointment.
"Yeah, I just think that we don't have to, you know, charge the customers for that, man. I mean, we're coming down here to support our team, support our city. That just seems, seems too much, man," Perkins said.
The city said the projected revenue has shrunk to $1.7 million, which is 27% of the original estimate. The city attributed the shortfall to the special event parking not beginning until September, missing the busy months of July and August, and the parking zone being cut down from one mile to a half-mile.
The other parking program, which rolled out at Balboa Park at the beginning of the year, has brought in more than $2 million.
According to the mid-year monitoring report, that figure is still more than $6 million below budget after delays and changes.
When asked if the benefit for the city outweighs the cost for the consumer, Coleman disagreed.
"Not at all. Not at all," Coleman said.
Mayor Todd Gloria will release his budget for FY 2027 online Wednesday, before presenting it to the City Council next Monday.
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