On Thursday we published an editorial saying Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson's plan to allow free parking downtown after 3 p.m. each day merits consideration. But we said that it, and a plan to allow free parking during the Christmas season, should be weighed against the loss of revenue from parking meters.
We haven't changed our opinion, but we need to clear up one thing. We said the potential loss from the holiday parking plan would be $330,000. Estimates, of course, are not facts, but the mayor's office says our figure is wrong. A more realistic estimate is $90,000.
That would give the "free after 3" and holiday plans a combined impact on the budget of $190,000, still a figure with which to reckon during tough times, and still plenty of reason to proceed carefully, as we said.