SEMO’s parking ticket revenue tops $60,000 as SGA proposes new digital meter system

Southeast Missouri State University has generated over $60,000 in parking tickets this semester alone, drawing attention back to the parking issues students face on campus. With busy parking lots during the school day, many students have found themselves frustrated by frequent ticketing and the challenge of finding parking.

To address these concerns, the Student Government Association (SGA) has plans to introduce a new parking meter plan. This proposal aims to provide greater flexibility in paying for meter parking while also contributing to their campus beautification efforts.

Parking Services Supervisor Nick Shepard said that the revenue from parking tickets typically goes towards funding the maintenance and enhancement of the parking infrastructure, including parking areas and related services. The money first goes through the Department of Public Safety, where it is allocated.

“All the money that we make from permits—tickets and everything—it all goes into the Department of Public Safety’s general account, and it’s used for whatever is needed. We use it for parking maintenance, for equipment, for officers, basically whatever we need,” Shepard said.

However, parking violations remain a concern, with certain offenses occurring more frequently than others. Shepherd said the most common parking violation DPS sees is students parking in the faculty lots.

“The biggest issue is people using faculty parking, even though signs are posted,” Shepard said.

While the efforts to improve parking continue, SGA has unveiled a new parking meter plan.

SGA has proposed implementing the parking meter program HONK, which would digitalize the process of paying for the meters and improve campus visually by getting rid of the old meters.

SGA Student Body President Lydia Pobst said they aim to simplify the campus parking process to alleviate some student frustration.

“Those parking meters we have now take quarters, and a lot of them are broken. They just don’t look great, some of them don’t work. And I know they’re frustrating to use. So for the students, we are trying to simplify parking as much as we can,” Pobst said.