The city of Port Townsend has seen both its number of parking tickets issued and the revenues raised by them plummet over the past seven years.

According to statistics supplied by the city, 2012 saw the city issue 1,245 parking citations, raising $23,524 in the process, but by 2017, that had dropped to 183 tickets and $4,519.

The following year yielded a significant bump, with 644 tickets generating $13,511 in 2018, but 2019 has seen another downturn.

In statistics compiled by the city May 8, the city had only issued 88 tickets so far for 2019, resulting in $1,625 in revenue.

Of the 88 tickets issued in that period of 2019, 50 were issued in the month of January, and 24 were issued Jan. 11.

This means that, to match the number of tickets issued in 2018, the city would need to issue roughly 90 tickets per month for the remainder of the year, almost double the rate of January.

City Finance Manager Sheila Danielson noted that revenues from parking citations go into the general fund, but are designated for police operations.

When asked about the overall trend, Danielson attributed its decline in part to a decrease in the number of volunteers, who supplement the police department’s parking enforcement efforts by issuing tickets.

As for the jump in both tickets and revenues in 2018, Danielson pointed out the city hired a community service officer last year, who was able to augment the ticketing.

Sgt. Troy Surber demurred when asked about longer-term declines in issued citations, but when it comes to the past few months, he’s concluded that the discontinuation of tire-chalking, in response to a recent federal appeals court ruling, has severely curtailed parking enforcement.

Port Townsend Police Chief Mike Evans told The Leader in May that he’d “never been a big fan of putting chalk on tires.”

Surber said he is skeptical of residents’ claims that there is a shortage of parking spaces throughout the city.

“In at least a few cases, you’ve probably had people from Business A and Business B using each other’s parking spaces,” Surber said. “We used to have parking meters downtown, but those were vulnerable to salt-water corrosion, and if you could afford to keep feeding quarters into them, you kept your space.”

While Surber anticipated the incoming city manager might have some ideas to deal with parking, the police sergeant suggested more motorists either park on the Washington Street hill or take advantage of the Park and Ride station by the Safeway.

“There’s always plenty of spaces ...and it’s within minutes of a bus ride away from anywhere within the city,” Surber said.

Surber also disputed the suggestion that parking enforcement is a way for the police department to enrich itself, given that “a majority of those funds go to the state and county.”