The long-standing tradition of not having to feed parking meters on Sunday in San Francisco could soon be a thing of the past.

A proposed Municipal Transportation Agency budget released Thursday calls for enforcing parking meters on Sundays - from noon to 6 p.m. - to help balance the budget of the financially struggling agency without raising transit fares more than already planned or cutting service.

In addition, drivers would have to pay to park in more locations, where up to 1,000 new meters would be installed, and the cost of parking tickets would climb another $5.

The extra revenue would help fund free Muni rides for low-income youth and would boost the amount the agency spends on maintaining its transit system by about $30 million a year.

Although the plan has the strong support of Mayor Ed Lee, it has left others with plenty to dislike.

The budget covers two years, and calls for spending $796.8 million in the 2013 fiscal year, which begins July 1, and $810.5 million the following fiscal year.

The MTA, which oversees Muni, parking, traffic and taxis, faces a $19.6 million deficit in the 2013 fiscal year budget and a $33.6 million shortfall in the 2014 budget. The proposed budget would close those deficits.

Ed Reiskin, who took the helm of the agency in August, said he wanted to produce a budget that invested in maintenance of the transit system, which he said has been neglected as the agency struggled with budget woes.

"I did not want to submit a budget that just kept Muni limping along," he said.

Two weeks ago, Reiskin laid off a dozen MTA executives, which should save the agency more than $2 million a year, he said. He's also trying to rein in overtime and workers' compensation costs and expects $7 million in savings from concessions from labor unions representing employees who don't operate Muni vehicles.

The agency negotiated a concessionary contract with the operators' union last year.

But increasing spending on maintenance - needed to improve reliability, Reiskin said - combined with adding a two-year test program giving low-income youths free Muni passes - a slimmed-down version of a program the Board of Supervisors and community activists have pushed - created the need to raise revenue.

Reiskin said he decided the best way to raise revenue, and adhere to the city's Transit First policy, "is to modernize our antiquated parking policies."

Times have changed

The most controversial proposal is to begin charging at parking meters on Sundays, ending a San Francisco tradition dating back to the arrival of meters on city streets.

"When meters were put in back in the '50s, Sundays were a very different thing," he said. "There was very little commerce on Sundays. Today, they're not that much different than a Saturday. The justification for not managing parking on Sundays just doesn't hold anymore."

But Reiskin said charging for meters on Sundays is more than a money grab. Parking in neighborhood business districts is "locked up" all day on Sundays by drivers who know they won't have to move their car until Monday. And that creates more congestion as drivers hunt for a coveted spot.

The idea of charging for parking on Sundays has been floated before, but was killed amid political backlash at City Hall.

But this time, Sunday parking has the backing of Mayor Ed Lee - even over the opposition of religious leaders.

Michael Pappas, executive director of the San Francisco Interfaith Council, fears that Sunday churchgoers will be turned off by the cost and inconvenience of having to plug the meters while they worship and attend fellowship activities.

"These congregations will suffer," he said.

But city transportation officials said there are relatively few areas where metered parking is adjacent to churches.

"In the perfect world I would rather not have any parking meters operate on Sundays," Lee said. "But given (the agency's) need to get the revenues they need because of the gap, they had to take a number of measures."

Higher fines, too

Drivers would also be hit by a $5 increase in parking tickets to cover a pair of $3 state surcharges on citations. The agency already passes along $1 but will start tacking on the rest in the coming year.

"We already have among the highest ticket rate in the country," said Supervisor Mark Farrell. "It perpetuates the belief people have that they're getting nickel-and-dimed."

If fines are raised $5, the penalty for parking at an expired meter would jump to $70 downtown and to $60 in the neighborhood commercial districts. The fine for a street-cleaning violation would hit $60.

While the proposed budget asks drivers to pay more, it would give low-income Muni riders under 18 a free ride.

Supervisor David Campos, who has led the charge to provide free Muni for youth, opposes limiting the perk to low-income riders.

"We don't want Muni to be seen as the poor kids' mode of transportation," he said. The goal of the program is not to only help the economically disadvantaged but also to create a new generation of transit riders.

"While I appreciate the sentiment," Reiskin said, "we do have a budget deficit."

The MTA Board of Directors is expected to decide on the free rides for youth issue at its Tuesday meeting, and will be presented with the budget, which it has until May 1 to adopt.