The City of Bloomington is considering several changes to parking operations following a June report by external consultants.

The report by Walker Consultants recommends higher parking rates for street and garage parking, shorter evening enforcement hours, license-plate-reading parking enforcement, moving parking ticket appeals from the city clerk’s office to the parking services division, and replacement of all of Bloomington’s single-space parking meters with multi-space kiosks.

If the city adopts the recommended rate increases, street parking will rise 50 cents an hour in the area north of 3rd Street and south of 7th Street and 25 cents an hour south of 3rd Street and north of 7th Street. Garage rates would double from 50 cents an hour to $1 an hour.

The consultants recommend rate increases to keep up with inflation, encourage parking space turnover, and cover costs of operations for garages and lots.

In a written statement, the city’s Parking Services Director Michelle Wahl said, “The goal is to make parking simple.”

The city is inviting residents to test two kiosk systems at the Parking Services Office on Walnut Street through mid-August before choosing which system to adopt. Additional community input will be sought for other parking changes.