What Do You Think? Evanston Budget Items

Monday night, the Evanston city council for the 2012 budget that will raise some parking meters to $1 an hour and raises fees for most parking violations by $5.

Voting against the parking meter measure, Ald. Judy Fiske (1st Ward) said it would hurt downtown business, since it could drive shoppers away to other areas.

Fiske said the retail stores downtown have been having a rough time already and noted that more may be closing soon. She suggested getting input from business owners before moving forward with the measure.

Patch commenters seemed to agree:

"I can park and shop downtown Wilmette just across the border and not have to worry about parking" -

The City of Evanston continues to be not Friendly to Businesses. They prefer Evanston residents shop else where and leave or the empty stores vacant. Drive around town you find a new one almost daily -

Other items have been proposed to raise or save money, such as outsourcing crossing guards, eliminating positions, and furlough days for city workers.

What do you think about the increase and other proposed measures? Tell us what you'd cut or increase in the comments.