CHAMPAIGN – Starting in mid-January, parking meter rates in the core of downtown will triple, going to 75 cents per hour, up from the current 25 cents.

The city council voted 7-0 Tuesday night to put in place a package of parking measures that are expected to generate about $500,000 next year and nearly $600,000 in 2009.

Council member Marci Dodds abstained on the issue. Her husband, Cody Sokolski, is a downtown developer whose latest project, the nine-story M2 on Neil, is closely linked to the city's decision to build a $13 million, 600-spare parking garage at Hill and Randolph streets.

Council members said the parking rate increases were needed both to allocate parking better in the downtown area and to generate the additional income, which will be used to help pay off parking garage bond debt.

"I think the math is the math," said council member Ken Pirok. "When we voted to have a parking garage, we agreed we'd raise the parking meter rates. I just don't see any way around that."

In the downtown core, including Walnut Street, University Avenue, Main Street and parts of Park, Church and Hill streets, the rates will be 75 cents per hour.

Outlying areas will have lower rates, 25 cents or 50 cents per hour, and some outlying meters will allow for longer-term parking than the standard two hours.

The new rates will be fully implemented by the end of January. Reprogramming all the downtown meters will take a few weeks, officials said.

Starting July 1, the city will also extend the hours of parking enforcement from the current 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Council member Deborah Frank Feinen said she thinks the new rates will better allocate scarce parking. With the higher rates, "there will be some spaces available for people to run in and run out," she said.

In many cases, people who don't want to pay the higher rates will have to walk a block or two to find cheaper parking, Feinen said.

Mayor Jerry Schweighart tried hard to persuade council members in recent weeks to go with just a 50-cent meter rate and then to revisit the issue in a year. But he said he could not gain majority support.

"My negotiating skills weren't very effective," he said.

Schweighart said he wants the city manager to report to the council quickly if it turns out that the higher parking rates are having a detrimental effect on downtown.

But council member Tom Bruno predicted that the 75-cent meters in the downtown core "will still be at 100 percent capacity after this goes into effect."

The vote also increased the fine for time limit violations, such as where someone stays in a two-hour parking spot for more than two hours, from the current $10 to $20, with the fine increasing to $30 if it isn't paid within 72 hours.