Massport quietly raises parking rates

No public hearing, notice of increase

The state agency that runs Logan International Airport has responded to plummeting revenues at its garages by raising the parking fees it charges, even while keeping its 75-member garage staff at full strength and awarding one of its unions a 7.5 percent pay increase over two years.

The moves by Massport demonstrate how the agency, where the managers frequently boast of operating like a private business, can use its monopoly on public parking to help it survive tough times.

Although it has avoided the type of layoffs that have swept the private sector and some corners of state government, Massport officials said the agency has undergone some belt-tightening. A hiring freeze has resulted in 61 vacant positions by attrition, saving $4 million a year, which is less than 1 percent of its budget. And officials at the agency, which employs a total of about 1,100 workers, said layoffs remain a possibility.

Without a hearing or public notice, Massport raised the parking rates an average of 7.7 percent - which translates, for most motorists, to an extra $1 every time they use the garage. The per-day rate remains the same at $24 per day. The new rates, which went into effect Feb. 1, are expected to bring in $1 million more in revenue.

The new rates firmly position Logan at the top of the parking price list among comparable national airports. To park for up to 3 hours at Logan is now $16; at LaGuardia in New York, $12; at Los Angeles International, $11; at Chicago's O'Hare, $4; and at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International, $4, according to airport websites. At the regional T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I., it would cost $9.

Because of the recession, parking revenues at Logan fell $4.2 million during the last eight months when compared with the previous year, according to Massport figures obtained under the state public records law.

"The decision to raise the hourly rate was not done in a vacuum," said Danny Levy, Massport spokeswoman. "Massport employees are dedicated and aware of the financial constraints under which the authority is operating and realize that layoffs may be possible."

Managers, on Jan. 16, signed an agreement with dozens of service and maintenance workers giving them 3.7-percent wage increases in each of two years, retroactive to July 1, 2008, according to a copy of the contract. A separate contract covers the parking workers.

Parking revenue accounts for almost 25 percent of Massport's revenue, while tolls on the Tobin Bridge, landing fees, and rents of its facilities account for the remainder. Massport receives no direct state tax dollars.

The Massport board of directors never voted directly on the $1 increase in rates. Instead, the board voted on Nov. 20 to give Thomas Kinton Jr., Massport's executive director, and other managers the authority to "adjust" parking rates "if market demand and price tolerance dictates," board meeting minutes say.

Nowhere in the meeting agenda or the minutes is the word "increase" used. According to the minutes, the unanimous vote of the board to allow managers to "adjust" rates came without discussion from board members, including James Aloisi, who has since become Governor Deval Patrick's secretary of transportation. Aloisi, through a spokesman, declined to comment.

By contrast, the MBTA board of directors on Oct. 10 voted directly to increase fees by $2 at its parking facilities. The vote authorized the MBTA to put the new rates into effect a month later, on Nov. 15.

Signs were posted at the MBTA facilities before Nov. 15 announcing the rate increase, MBTA spokesman Joseph Pesaturo said. The proposed increase was widely covered by the news media.

The last time Massport raised the parking rate, in 2007, the plan was announced a week before the board voted on it and three weeks before the new rate was scheduled to go into effect.

Instead of making a public announcement this time, Massport on Jan. 26 issued an internal memo setting out the rate changes, a copy of which was obtained by the Globe. While no public notice was required, the increase - and the way it was done - did not sit well with some airport users.

A recent, informal survey of about a dozen users of the airport's central garage found only one person aware of the increase.

"It's a slap at the ordinary people," said Michael Albertson of Arlington, who was returning to this car. "They hope we wouldn't notice, but it really impacts us," he said. "In Massachusetts, the little guy always pays while the politicians and their friends take care of themselves."

Massport said raising rates was one of several painful steps the agency has taken. Levy said Massport plans to cut another $17 million in its budget in the next six months and will delay $100 million in capital projects.

The rates push the fees for 30 minutes or less from $3 to $4; for 31 minutes to one hour from $6 to $7; for one hour to 90 minutes from $9 to $10; for 91 minutes to two hours from $12 to $13; for two hours to three hours from $15 to $16; and for three hours to four hours from $18 to $19.

For those who leave their automobiles more than 24 hours, the one day rate remains $24.

The recession has cut deeply into air travel. The number of passengers flying out of Logan declined by 7.1 percent in 2008, compared to 2007, according to Massport, which operates the airport, the port of Boston, and the Tobin Bridge.

The downward slide continued last month, with parking revenues off 10 percent, or almost $800,000 for the month.

At the Massport board of directors meeting in January, Kinton predicted monthly declines in passengers of 5 percent to 6 percent for much of 2009.

Sean Murphy can be reached at smurphy@globe.com.