Iowa City officials may soon create a program to convert out-of-service parking meters into donation receptacles, they said at a work session Monday.

The program would discourage Iowa City citizens and University of Iowa students from donating directly to panhandlers by asking them to put their spare change in old parking meters. The money would be donated to local shelters and foundations.

Other cities that have instituted this program successfully include Cincinnati and Bettendorf, officials said.

Councilors’ main point of discussion was the aggressiveness with which they would encourage the donation.

— by Sam Lane