Students and staff have accumulated a half million dollars in parking fines over the last year.

And, with more cars on campus, that amount could reach even higher this year.

“That money goes right back into parking lot maintenance,” said Betty Gurganus, support services manager of Auxiliary Services.

This maintenance pool includes things like painting, paving, lighting and the security of the lots.

“We do have to repaint the lots every 2 to 3 years,” she said.

The money is also used to pay towards three parking lots that the university still owes money on. The university will be paying approximately $220,000 a year for the next three years until they finish paying off the debt.

Due to the overcrowding in this year’s student body, additional parking at Trask Coliseum was added to offer an immediate solution for students who would otherwise be facing tickets for illegal parking.

“We have opened up the grassy area if students can’t find a legal spot,” Gurganus said.

Parking tickets may fall in numbers over the next few years, as administrators encourage a pedestrian-only campus, according to Gurganus.

“We would like to look at more alternative transportation, like students and employees using the shuttle and WTA services, which are free,” she said.

An official plan has not been put in place for such a measure.Despite the issues of not enough parking spaces, the most common parking violation on campus is the lack of a proper parking decal, according to Gurganus.

“A lot of [these violations come] from visitors,” she said “We do have [students] who appear to be visitors who may be [abusing] it.”

Most campus parking violations result will in a $25 ticket. Illegally parking in a service vehicle space results in a $50 fine, and parking in a handicap spot without proper documentation cost offenders $100. The least expensive parking fine is the one charged for improper display of a parking decal. Gurganus used the example of taping the decal on the inside of the back window instead of removing the backing and placing the decal in the proper spot on the outside of the window. Taping the decal on the inside of the window is not allowed because, Gurganus said, “it could be moved from car to car, or someone could steal it.”

Students list parking as one of their major problems this year.

“As a senior, I deliberately paid my money early so as to guarantee a space in the apartment lot, but when I arrived to school, I learned that otherwise,” senior Beth Soltowski said. “And since plans for future parking lots do not seem in the works, this problem will grow and continue to get worse.”

To deal with student concerns and to avoid an increase in the number of illegal parking tickets written, the university is currently looking for a consultant to perform a parking study on campus this fall.

“We expect to get results in the spring,” Gurganus said.

The one-mile radius and expansion of parking spaces will be included in the topics covered by the study, and the study could provide information for changes that could be implemented in the university’s parking structure.