DDA parking revenue from Ann Arbor Art Fair drops; parking system users also down in July

A lot of that, they suspect, had to do with the weather — or what DDA Executive Director Susan Pollay described as an incredible heat wave in July.

The DDA today released a summary report of parking revenue received during the four-day Art Fair, which ran from July 20-23 in downtown Ann Arbor.

The report shows there were increases in Art Fair parking revenue every year from 2001 through 2009, but revenue dropped from $244,180 to $218,230 last year, and then it dropped again to $213,250 this year — about a 2.28 percent decrease.

It appears the loss of the Library Lot, where construction of a new underground parking garage is under way, played a large role.

The DDA was averaging more than $19,000 in revenue from the surface parking lot during each of the last several Art Fairs, but that revenue has been nonexistent for the past two years as construction continues on the site.

A report for the entire month of July shows $1.33 million in parking revenues were netted by the DDA, up slightly from the $1.30 million in July 2010.

That's despite actual users of the parking system being down 5 percent. There were 151,904 hourly patrons in July 2011, compared to 159,817 hourly patrons in July 2010