While street parking in downtown Sycamore costs a couple of coins on average, a parking fine in the city soon could rise from $1 to $10, according to a proposal expected to go before the City Council on Monday.

In a letter addressed to Mayor Steve Braser, City Manager Michael Hall and the Sycamore City Council, Finance Director Kristian Dominguez proposed increasing the city’s parking ticket fee from $1 to $10.

“This adjustment is critical to cover operational costs and ensure the long-term financial sustainability of our parking enforcement program,” Dominguez wrote in his Oct. 6 letter.

The city’s parking enforcement program costs $61,288 each year, according to documents provided as part of the agenda for the next City Council meeting, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday.

More than half of that annual cost, $34,545, is paid to city personnel, while more than $18,000 is spent on software services.

Dominguez told city officials that the parking program currently operates with an annual deficit of $53,788. He wrote that his proposal to increase parking ticket fines to $10 would enable the parking program to generate $13,712 of surplus revenue.

Sycamore police officers issue an average of 30 parking tickets a day, according to Dominguez’s letter. He wrote that with about 250 working days each year, the city issues about 7,500 parking tickets each year.

“This minor adjustment would not only cover the full cost of operations but also generate a small surplus of $13,712, which can be allocated to equipment replacement, emergencies or future program expansion,” Dominguez wrote.

If the Sycamore City Council authorizes the change, the parking fee increase will take effect Jan. 1.

The increase could come almost six years after city officials quadrupled the parking fine from 25 cents to $1.