Parking Fee Changes as of July 1

As part of the 2025 budget, the City Council reviewed a "menu of options" to reduce reliance on reserves to balance the budget and agreed that the City should begin collecting credit card convenience fees to offset charges paid to the merchant processor, credit card gateway, and financial institutions. 

These costs have increased significantly, with the City paying $1.1 million in credit card fees in 2024 and $1.3 million in 2025. Passing along credit card fees received an affirmative response from a majority of City Council members at the time, and this was among the changes incorporated into the adopted FY 2025 budget (p.14) and subsequent FY 2026 budget, with staff noting that implementation would take some time.

This is not a new tax or a revenue-generating measure for the City. Parking meter rates themselves have remained unchanged since 2019. Previously, the City covered the processing costs associated with credit card transactions; beginning July 1, 2026, those costs will instead be absorbed by users who choose those payment methods.

As of July 1, 2026:

• Parking sessions made through the ParkEvanston app now include a $0.47 Convenience fee; this includes a credit card processing fee per transaction (previously $0.35)

• Beginning a session using "wallet" within the ParkEvanston app, it will incur a $0.30 fee (previously $0).

• Credit card transactions at on-street pay stations include a $0.22 processing fee per transaction when paying with a credit card (previously $0). Pay stations still collect coins without a fee. 

The fees differ because the app, payment methods, and pay stations operate through different vendors and payment processing systems. There will continue to be no processing fees for payments made with coins at on-street pay stations.

The credit card fee covers merchant processing, credit card gateway, and Passport platform costs. While these fees are not new, they were previously $0.35 per transaction; they now also include credit card processing costs.  

To address community feedback, the City has worked with Passport to make the digital wallet a more affordable option. Consumers will see a cost savings of $0.17. Wallet users also benefit from keeping funds in the app for future parking sessions. In addition, as a new feature, Apple Pay and Google Pay have been added as payment options for convenience.

We appreciate our community’s understanding and patience as we continue to serve effectively. For questions, please contact 3-1-1 when in Evanston or text 847-448-4311.