Butler parking permits cost $15 more than last year because of a vote by Butler’s parking committee.
The committee vote approved a $75 price tag that will remain frozen for two years.
“If they’re going to raise prices, they should use the money towards helping to manage parking better,” said sophomore Katie Cessna, who brought her car to campus again this year.
The increased fee will help pay for a new parking-related software system to be used in the future.  The police department is choosing between three different types.
The current system is ten years old and outdated, according to Ben Hunter,  chief of staff and executive director of public safety.
“We want to get more green and intuitive,” Hunter said.  “The system we had was not intuitive.”
The new software will help the Butler Police Department give out parking citations more efficiently.
BUPD may hand out citations via  email and a tracking system designed to find cars parked in violation of the 1989 agreement with the Butler-Tarkington Neighborhood Association may be in the works.
The agreement outlines that Butler students cannot park in the surrounding neighborhood, including 44th Street, unless they have a lease in the neighborhood or own a home.
“Sometimes we end up ticketing people that, quite honestly, don’t deserve to be ticketed,” Hunter said.
If faculty, staff and students are associated with the neighborhood but choose not to bring a car on campus, they have a BTNA permit option this year.  This permit is issued at no charge.
“We created a separate permit so it reduces your frustration of seeing that little green envelope on your car,” Hunter said.
Hunter said he hopes that, if the new system works well, there will not be a need for the BTNA permits in the future.
“It [is] something that is important to try out this year to see how it works to reduce the current frustrations we have,” Hunter said.  “It is a learning curve for us, but, at the same time, we have to be cognitive of increasing fees with tuition and other fees.”
BUPD will choose which system works best after this year’s trial run.