Nearly 600 people who park in several downtown city parking lots saw their monthly rates rise by as much as 50 percent last year, then fall again when the City Council rescinded the increases. It has been eight months since the rollback, but many still are owed hundreds of dollars apiece in refunds.

Marin Tower resident Toby Swanson said he's still waiting for his check for $360, $60 a month for the six months the higher rate was in effect. He can't understand the delay.

"What took so long?" he asked. In his case, the monthly fee jumped from $125 a month to $185, but the increases varied by lot.

City Facility Management Director Laverne Higa said the city had to review all the written receipts and other records for some 585 people before the checks could be issued to those who paid the higher monthly fees at six city-owned downtown parking lots. And that process took months.

Higa said the city mailed checks totaling $167,985 beginning Sept. 2, putting the distribution into the hands of the two private companies that manage the parking facilities.

Republic Parking runs the lots at Chinatown Gateway, Hale Pauahi and Kukui Plaza. Ampco System Parking runs the parking at Kekaulike Courtyard, Harbor Court and Marin Tower.

The rate increase went into effect Sept. 1, 2004, then was rescinded by the City Council on March 1, Higa said, meaning many residents like Swanson were owed for six months, but others less. The council rolled back the rates after residents complained that they had little warning of the increases.

Higa said the city sent the checks to Republic in late September and they cleared the bank Oct. 31. And she said the checks to Ampco went out in September but hadn't cleared as of last week. Higa said the city had instructed the parking contractors to issue refunds by Oct. 31.

Republic Parking manager Gail Martin said processing all the paperwork took time for 409 customers, which added up to more than $90,000. She said residents had three months — until the end of May — to get in their requests for refunds.

Martin said Republic customers should have received their refund checks last week. She said processing the refunds took time, even after the company received the checks from the city, confirming "what they did and did not pay."

At Ampco System Parking, operations manager Leilani Lewis oversees the city-owned lots. She said the payback process ended up being a lot of paperwork that had to be checked and rechecked for 176 customers owed a total of $77,945.

"We had to make sure that what we were going to pay out was also correct," Lewis said. After she verified the receipts, her branch manager had to review them, then send them to the San Francisco corporate office before the checks could be cut.

Lewis said all that was done and checks went out on Thursday.

"We had to go through everything for every month for every customer. I was trying to explain to them that you're not the only one," Lewis said. She said the parking rates remain a good deal at their lots with rates ranging from $125 to $140, compared with private lots that charge closer to $195 a month.

"I'm just glad to say that everyone will be able to get their check very soon," Lewis said.

Swanson, a novelist, said the whole tale seems confused.

And he was cautious about news that refunds are headed out. "We'll see," Swanson said. "The check's in the mail? I've heard that before."

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.