Beach and parking revenues were up in Asbury Park this year and at least one city officials says he expects them to keep growing.
Beach revenues were about $1.1 million last year and are at close to $1.3 million this year.
Parking revenues for last year were at $1,975,197 and, as of August this year, the revenue is already at almost $1.9 million, with another four months of revenue still to come in.
“I project the city will realize in excess of $2.5 million in 2014,” City Manager Jack Kelly said earlier this week.
Councilman John Loffredo, who co-chairs the city’s parking committee, said the numbers for both the parking and beach revenues show that Asbury Park is moving in the right direction.
“And this momentum has to be kept up and it is a good way to get us off of state transitional aid,” he said. “People are discovering that Asbury Park is a great place to visit,” he said.
Loffredo said that there are plans to increase parking revenue even further by eventually placing metered parking along Main Street and in the municipal parking lot near City Hall. Many people park in the lot in the evenings and on weekends.
Beach Safety Supervisor Joseph Bongiovanni said the city had a great season weather-wise.
“And weather is always a big factor, especially on weekends. The majority of our business in on weekends,” he said.
Bongiovanni said attendance at the beachfront has been increasing every year and that beach fees have not been raised in two years.
“We did a little more this year than last year and I would say we are increasing attendance by about 20 percent annually, going back for about 14 years,” he said.
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