New, “More Friendly” Milwaukee Night Parking Permits Available

Parking enforcement. Photo by Michael Horne.

It’s now easier than ever to comply with Milwaukee’s night parking regulations.

The Department of Public Works has rolled out a new, money-saving permit structure that is based on the date of purchase instead of fixed points on the calendar, now includes a one-day permit and offers push notifications when a pass is about to expire.

Previously, anyone seeking to park overnight on a city street must pay $55 per year or $20 for four months. The periods were fixed; a late start saw no discount. That’s now a thing of the past, with the four lengths (day, week, month and annual) valid from the date purchased.

“This is an update and improvement to the system we have now,” said Alderman Jonathan Brostoff, the measure’s lead sponsor, when the Public Safety & Health Committee reviewed the concept on Feb. 16. “It affords more opportunities that are more friendly to our residents.”

With prior registration, any motor vehicle can still be parked for free for three nights in a 30-day period. But the need for the additional $20, four-month permit to get as little as a fourth night is no more. You can now purchase a daily pass for $1. No registration is required from Saturday overnight into Sunday (the overnight enforcement period runs from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.).

An email address associated with a permit will now be notified that it is about to expire.

Parking passes can be purchased online at milwaukee.gov/parkingpermits. Additionally, they can be purchased in person at any Milwaukee Police Department station or Milwaukee Violations Bureau. New purchase kiosks are now available at the City Hall and the adjacent Zeidler Municipal Building.

The city, according to its budget, expects to collect $3.94 million from parking permit revenue in 2023.

“We think this will increase revenue,” said parking services manager Thomas Woznick on Feb. 16 of the change. He said that’s because it will encourage more people to purchase permits instead of hoping to avoid enforcement. The parking manager said DPW is working to restore its parking enforcement personnel levels to pre-pandemic levels. Woznick said the city has only collected $3.5 million in recent years. “People are just taking their chances.” The city is budgeted to collect $15 million in citations in 2023.

Brostoff said he hoped the policy will reduce staff-resident conflicts stemming from parking citations or confusion with the process. “I think there is some additional benefit in that area to the staff,” said the alderman. The policy change was also co-sponsored by council members Marina Dimitrijevic, Mark Borkowski and Mark Chambers, Jr.

The Common Council unanimously approved the changes in March. The current four-month period, now a relic of the past, expires April 30.