LEWISTON – Vandalism and theft of the pay boxes at all of the city’s parking garages last week might have gained the thieves $500, but it’s looking to cost the city much more.

“First, we’re dealing with the damage, which is in the range of thousands of dollars, but we’re also dealing with lost revenue from the fact that we can’t collect parking fares,” Lewiston police Lt. Mark Cornelio said. “That lost revenue amounts to thousands per month.”

Cornelio said thieves began breaking into the parking garage pay boxes on April 6 and had hit all four garages by April 9. The automated systems collect parking fees, giving change in $1 coins. Thieves pried open the machines’ pay boxes, stealing the dollar coins and the paper money people had deposited.

A total of eight pay stations in the city’s four garages – Oak Street, Centerville, Chestnut Street and Southern Gateway – were burglarized. The pay stations were disabled, as well.

City Administrator Jim Bennett said he expected insurance to pay for some of the repairs. City staff is expected to recommend repairs to the Finance Committee on Monday. That could include replacing the old equipment with something more secure.

“We want to know if there are better anti-theft options, like alarms or video recorders we could use,” Bennett said.

He estimated the city would lose $8,000 per month, or about $2,000 per week, as long as the pay stations are broken.