SYRACUSE -- Finding a parking spot can be hard enough, but when the coin operated meters are broken, it's even worse. On Salina Street Friday, all the coin operated meters in this block were out of service.

There aren't many of them left and pretty soon they'll be gone. To help balance the cities budget, the mayor predicted the city would gain $400,000 in revenue from parking meters, specifically by replacing the coin meters with the pay stations that print out a parking receipt.

The mayor says parking rates won't go up but the more reliable pay station machines will still help the city's bottom line.

Much of the city, including Armory Square, changed over to the pay stations years ago. They can accept credit cards and that's a lot more convenient for many drivers.

Many store owners say free parking would help the cities bottom line more than new meters.

$400,000 may be just a drop in the bucket for the city of Syracuse’s budget, but the mayor says in times like these, every little bit helps.