Bainbridge City Council wants to squeeze more money out of parking violators by increasing the parking fine from $20 to $50.

It also plans to add more dollars to its coffers by hiring a second full-time parking enforcement officer (PEO).

Faced with trying to close the city’s looming budget deficit, the council is searching for additional sources of revenue. From January to July of this year the city has distributed 2,344 parking tickets and collected $42,570 in fines.

Court Administrator Telma Hauth estimates the city will bring in $72,984 by the end of the year.

The council approved a motion 10 days ago to raise the fine to $50, effective next year. Hauth estimates the new amount would bring in approximately $182,450 during the next two years.

The current tickets are issued by one full-time officer, but Police Chief Jon Fehlman has requested a second PEO for the 2011-2012 budget.

He estimates that could double the current ticket revenue and generate enough to cover more than what the parking officers would be paid. The second PEO could also serve as the records officer’s back up to increase efficiency, according to Fehlman.

“The police department is constantly being asked to do more enforcement on handicapped parking, especially around the ferry terminal, but we don’t have the bodies to immediately respond so by the time an officer arrives the violators have usually already left,” said Fehlman.

Fehlman said another officer will be sorely needed once Winslow Way reconstruction begins next year. He said police primarily cover the ferry terminal and downtown corridor, but also Madison Avenue north to Wyatt Way.

During the Oct. 19 budget meeting councilors also voted to increase the late fee on parking tickets from $10 to $25. All cities in Kitsap County have a $25 late fee with the exception of Bainbridge Island, according to Hauth.

The council also considered raising the fine for handicapped parking from $250 to $500, but the motion was tabled until Fehlman could obtain more statute information.

Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kevin Dwyer hopes that in conjunction with the increased fees the city will increase signage in the downtown area.

“From tourists in particular we get letters from folks who come and spend a bunch of money and go back to their cars and have a $20 ticket. That will sting a lot more when it’s a $50 ticket,” said Dwyer. “We want to be considerate of tourists, visitors and even locals who shop and unexpectedly get a ticket if the signs aren’t clear and obvious.”

The council also passed an ordinance to bring the current practices of the employee parking program administered by the Chamber of Commerce into alignment with city code.

The program allows businesses and property owners in the downtown area to obtain parking permits semi-annually for employees to park in city-owned parking lots or spaces on public streets.

The goal of the program is to keep employees out of parking spaces customers might use. Originally the permits cost $2, but the fee is now $20.

“When the fee was only $2 or $5 we started getting quite a few people taking advantage of the program and we had about 300 people participating,” said Dwyer. “As sort of a disincentive to issuing so many permits and understanding parking is at a premium [council] suggested we up the [fee] to $20. Unfortunately none of those council requests or suggestions were ever put into the ordinance so it never changed and doesn’t reflect the reality of the program.”

In addition, the chamber was asked to collect only enough fees to cover the cost of administering the program.

Dwyer said the chamber has made a small amount of revenue from the program, but offered to provide the next six months of fees to the city without deducting the program costs. The program costs about $4,500 to administer, and the chamber expects to issue around 200 permits.

Bauer said she expects the council to keep the permit cost at $20, but the new ordinance will allow the price to be set during negotiation and the chamber will only retain the funds they can show relate to their costs and return the rest to the city.