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A quarter doesn't buy much anymore, but for as long as most Upper Marlboro residents can remember, it would buy an hour of parking along Main Street.

That will change on Dec. 1, when the rate of parking meters maintained by the town will increase from 25 cents per hour parked to 50 cents per hour.

The measure, passed unanimously Oct. 13 by the Upper Marlboro Board of Town Commissioners, is intended to increase revenue as well as free up parking spots along major thoroughfares. The town maintains 49 parking meters along Main, Pratt and Elm streets, which generated around $21,000 in revenue last year.

The higher rate is still cheaper than meters run by Prince George's County, which charge 75 cents per hour parked, said Board of Commissioners President Stephen Sonnett.

"You don't want to price yourself to the point where they don't come," he said.

The idea for increasing meter rates stemmed from complaints Sonnett said he received from some local business owners that people coming to Upper Marlboro to visit county government offices or the courthouse were taking advantage of the low rates.

"You see certain vehicles are parked there every day, all day, and they're not customers," he said.

Increased revenue will be an added bonus for the town, but was not the main reason commissioners passed the measure, he added. The town, unlike many other local municipalities, is expected to finish its fiscal year next June with a surplus, according to the town's budget estimates.

Sonnett said he does not have an estimate of how much more money the new rates will bring the town. In the coming weeks, according to the budget, the town will pay a private contractor an estimated $425 to update the meters.

Reaction to the rate increase was mixed among residents and visitors parked along Main Street on Monday morning.

Hyattsville resident Wesley Custer parked his truck on Main Street before heading down to the courthouse. He said he thought the town was entitled to increase rates, especially since the meters were still cheaper than those run by the county.

"If you get [your car] close to where you want to be, it's worth the extra quarter," he said.

Diego Albornoz, who has owned Diego's Bail Bonds on Main Street for four years but lives in Silver Spring, said he had long noticed how inexpensive parking was in town compared to other places.

"I think that it's no big deal...They're trying to keep up with the times," said Albornoz, who often feeds the meter to park his truck — emblazoned with the name of his business — across the street.

Oluchi Olaiya, who lives in Upper Marlboro and often parks downtown, said that given the current economic climate, town officials should not pass any measure that requires more from residents.

"I would like for it to remain the same," she said as she put coins into a meter on Main Street. "Nobody wants for anything to be increased...25 cents, it adds up."