The problem is keeping the Dunedin City Council's parking technicians busy as they mix and match parts to keep the machines operating.
While total figures for the damage were not available yesterday, the council will spend more than $4000 on graffiti attacks on parking machines alone this financial year.
When parts were needed for newer machines, they could cost several hundred dollars each, council development services manager Kevin Thompson said yesterday.
Mr Thompson said not everybody got away with the vandalism, as police had caught up with some, and they had been required to recompense the council, on top of fines.
The problem was noted in a recent council newsletter, which said there had been an upswing in vandalism of parking meters this year.
Technicians were encountering physical damage to the meters, intentional jamming of the machines, stickers being ripped off and machines being urinated or vomited on.
Mr Thompson said the situation was "pretty normal for this time of year", with vandalism occurring across the city.
Meters were being defaced by graffiti, their plastic screens were being broken and bottles were hurled at them.
In some cases, the whole front of the machine was smashed, he said.
Other damage was caused by various items being jammed into the slots, from cigarette and ice cream wrappers to, in one case, a pie.
"That was a messy one," Mr Thompson said.
In the last financial year, graffiti removal alone cost the council $3600, he said.
This financial year looked as though it would be worse, with that figure standing at just on $3000 to February.
With four months to go, the cost was likely to top $4000, he said.
The damage cost the council in staff time, although the spare parts the council "cannibalised" from machines could be used to fix others.
However, parts were not held in stock for newer machines.
The most recent spate of damage had been near Queens Gardens.
As well as the vandalism, on two or three occasions each year, people tried to steal money from the machines, damaging them in the process, Mr Thompson said.
