Do You Manage Your Parking Revenue Control System or Does It Manage You ?

1. Do You Manage Your Parking Revenue Control System or Does It Manage You? Chuck Cullen, CPFM, CAPP Director of Parking Consulting Services The Consulting Engineers Group, Inc.

2. Do You…… • Compare the bank receipt to the Daily Report total, and say everything’s is OK? Anytown Bank Receipt For $18,184.25 February 31, 2007

3. Do You… • Fail to properly maintain equipment?

4. Do You…. • Omit using counters because they are unreliable?

5. Look at reports without really examining what the numbers mean? Do You…

6. Chuck’s Parking Management Law #1 If you are not using your revenue control system as designed, it is using you.

7. Too Often…. • Install a revenue control system and then “fit” you operation to meet the ability of the system • Place too much reliance on the revenue control system

8. Chuck’s Parking Management Law #2 A Revenue Control System is not a replacement for management.

9. Statistics • 91% of thefts involve asset misappropriations • 88% of misappropriations involve cash • 5% of revenues are lost annually through occupational fraud Source: Association of Certified Fraud Examiners-2006

10. Recent Examples • Los Angeles, CA: $530,755 in missing tickets (fake validations) • Dayton, OH: $250,000: (garage supervisor used fake bank stamp) • Miami, FL: $??? (selling extra spaces for “OTSK”) • Mount Kisco, NY: $30,000 in quarters from meters over 9 months

11. What is Parking Revenue Control? • Collection and depositing of revenue without loss or deception • Revenue Control is an art • Art: elements or events responding in an unpredictable manner

12. What is Auditing? • Auditing is the verification of revenue control polices and procedures • Auditing is a science • Science: elements or events responding in a predictable manner

13. Why Do We Need Revenue Control • Reduces theft of revenue • limits those who will steal • prevents some who may steal • Enhances customer service • Curbs unemployment of parking administrators

14. Chuck’s Parking Management Law #3 Nothing is as inevitable asa theft whose time has come.

15. The Real Problem • Parking is a business that is not designed to be controlled • Has no fixed inventory • Accepts cash payments • Offers discounts (validations) • Varies fees • Uses third parties (valet) to provide service • Pays a person $25,000 to process $250,000 or more

16. The Quote • “There has never been a system devised that couldn’t be beat when the temptation is there, and the temptation will always be there.” • Bruce Miller Miller Parking 1962

17. Chuck’s Parking Management Law #4 It’s not the revenue that needs to be controlled –it’s the people!

18. Goals of Parking Revenue Control • Manage people • Purchase appropriate equipment • Maintain equipment • Verify transactions

19. Parking Revenue Control Theory • Theft of revenue is a crime • Crime = Motivation + Opportunity • Good management can reduce the motivation • Good revenue control can reduce the opportunity • Good auditing ensures good revenue control

20. Motivation To Steal • External • Life altering experience (death, divorce…) • Financial hardship • Addiction • Internal • Unfair treatment • “Get even”

21. Three Components of Revenue Control • People • customers • cashiers • supervisors • senior administrators • Places • your facilities • Things • equipment

22. People • Cashiers • Employ good personnel practices • Hire the best people • Train employees • Apply policies fairly and consistently • Managers • zero tolerance for theft • administer policies fairly • document

23. Places

24. Places • Look for “escape clauses” • low curb height • perimeter fencing • unlocked chains • open equipment cabinets • tightness of gate arms • metal signs around entrances or exits • unintentional gaps • others?????

25. Things (Equipment)

26. Chuck’s Parking Management Law #5 The hidden flaw never remains hidden

27. Things Equipment to complement services • Service • How good • How fast • How much • Software • Secures the data & programming • Generates usable reports • Collects and processes data accurately

29. Secure Power

30. Parking Revenue Control in Action

31. Monthly (Contract) Parking • Separate revenue from access control • Compare the number of permits sold to the number of valid permits in system

32. Monthly Account Reconciliation

33. Pay At Exit

34. Typical Entry Lane

35. Pay At ExitReconciliations • Revenue • Tickets • Counters • Audit

36. 1. Revenue Reconciliation • Compare revenue to fee computer to bank deposit • Review & document shortages AND overages • Examine checks for appropriateness and verify with bank deposit form • Verify credit card charges

37. Sample:Revenue Reconciliation

38. 2. Ticket Reconciliation • Tickets represent inventory • Audit exceptions (voids, manual transactions, lost, spoiled or special-rate) • Unaccounted For Tickets previous overnight inventory + # tickets issued - # tickets collected- current overnight inventory 0

39. Sample:Ticket Reconciliation

40. Ticket Reconciliation

41. 3. Counter Reconciliation • Entrance Lane • # tickets issued = ticket counter • # monthly entries = monthly count • transient count + monthly count = gate count • lane count = gate count = ticket count + monthly count • illegal count = 0 • Exit Lane • same as entrance except # of transactions replace # tickets

42. Sample:Counter Reconciliation

43. Counter Reconciliation

44. 4. Audit Procedures

45. Questions???