Last year, fewer things were open so fewer people went places and fewer people drove to the places they went. Shocker, right?
The point is that the city government lost a significant amount of money -- about $15 million through November of last year -- from fewer people needing to store their cars and trucks along public streets and in public parking garages as a result of the pandemic.
According to the Denver Department of Finance, city-owned parking lots and garages were the biggest losers, taking in a little over $3.4 million -- 54 percent less than in 2019.
Denver collected more than $6 million from parking meters throughout most of 2020, but last year that figure was closer to $11 million.
And the city saw a 27 percent drop in parking-based fines but still collected over $15.7 million through November.
Sure, most of Denver's pandemic-sized drop in revenue came from fewer people spending money on other stuff. But $15 million is a significant chunk of last year's budget shortfall, which was estimated at $226 million.
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This article has been updated to correct a typo that indicated an incorrect revenue loss for the city, which was $15 million, not $25 million.
