Anytime that students, visitors, faculty or staff park for longer than their metered time, park in a spot reserved for someone else or choose not to pay a ticket within a certain amount of time, Ball State University's Parking Services gets involved.
Nancy Wray, Parking Services office manager, said Parking Service employees write about 20,000 tickets per semester, but that number is lower than in the past.
"Actually, we have seen a little bit of a decline in tickets," Wray said.
Randy Howard, associate vice president of Finance, said the money that goes to Parking Services benefits Ball State and provides places to park on campus.
"When we build parking garages, we issue a bond and the parking income will pay off that bond," he said. "After 20 years of paying off the bond, we still maintain the garage and pay for maintenance on it."
Howard said community parking lots are paid for by Parking Services, along with the maintenance and repair for the lots.
Wray said Parking Services does its best job to be fair to people and act in the best interest of the university.
"Our job is to maintain and operate a university-wide program designed to meet the needs of faculty, staff, students and visitors," she said. "We do our best to make accommodations for the overall good of the university, which takes precedence over individual requirements which may be in conflict."
Howard said Parking Services income is used to support its own expenses. The department makes its money by students, faculty and staff purchasing parking permits, paying parking tickets and paying daily parking fees, which are tickets received at meters or in the garages. Handing out tickets has to be done for the best interest of the university, he said.
"We don't like to give out tickets," he said, "We have to enforce parking rules, though, or people who paid for permits won't be able to use their space."
There are meters at the Art and Journalism building because of the Atrium and the bookstore, Howard said. This is designed so students, faculty and staff can go in and grab a bite to eat or go to the bookstore and be back in their vehicles within the 45-minute time limit, he said.
"It is for convenience," Howard said.
All parking regulations and procedures for Ball State University can be viewed online at bsu.edu/parking.
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