JENNETT MERIDEN RUSSELL PHOTO Bob Loffreda of Connecticut punches in numbers on a parking meter in Port Jefferson. Frequent visitors to the village say the machines, which don’t accept bills, are temperamental and business owners fear the two-year-old program is hurting business.

The Port Jefferson mayor announced this week that village parking fees are being suspended from Nov. 15 through March 15, bringing relief to business owners worried that the fees are scaring off would-be shoppers, and joy to frequent visitors tired of scrambling for change.

“It’s a way of giving back to the business community and inviting our neighboring communities back to Port Jefferson,” said Mayor Margot Garant. “It’s a time of the year where we don’t have to manage parking as we do during the high season.”

Port Jefferson jewelry store owner Chris Silver said he was thrilled about the parking fee suspension. The frustrated entrepreneur believes that charging patrons to park in the village is damaging local business in a bad economy.

“The parking is making money for the village but it’s hurting the merchants,” Mr. Silver said. “Parking is not expensive. It’s 50 cents an hour, but it’s a hassle. I get a lot of people just coming in for change.

“I’ve been here 11 years and they never had the metered parking until the last couple of years, and I’ve seen less people coming into town,” he added.

Bob Loffreda, a Connecticut psychologist who visits Port Jefferson on a regular basis, said he figured the parking meters and tickets were likely a good source of revenue for the village. He was surprised by the move.

“How much will this village lose in revenues by doing this?” Mr. Loffreda asked. “I don’t know if Port Jefferson is like a lot of other towns that are hurting for finances, so I guess an argument could be made for it, why cut off revenue if you don’t have to?”

Money from parking and parking tickets is indeed a hefty source of revenue for Port Jefferson. According to village accounting books, Port Jefferson took in roughly $170,000 from January 2010 to July of this year — $60,000 of which was made in July alone.

The village raked in nearly $320,000 for 2009 in parking fees. As for ticket revenues, Port Jefferson collected just under $8,000 from motorists in 2009. The village has not done as well this year with the fines, according to a comparison study issued by the village clerk’s office. Port Jefferson had received over $7,000 in parking fines by September of last year but had taken in just under $5,000 by September of 2010.

Village officials believe the slowdown in tickets is likely due to patrons getting savvier to parking laws there.

Still, there’s no lack of consternation about parking tickets or fees.

Port Jefferson Senior Justice Court clerk Christine Wood said she hears parking costs complaints every day.

“Suffolk County Police write tickets, the MTA Police write tickets, the Marine Police write tickets, so my office is just constant complaints,” Ms. Wood said. “But I’m very friendly, so I defuse everybody.

“And if they get a ticket by mistake ­– it does happen,” she added, “I’ll give them a token and apologize and thank them for coming to Port Jefferson and give them a half an hour or an hour, on the village.”

Jesse Friszell and his wife, Jamie, who were in Port Jefferson on Monday, were not among those to get an apology and a parking token. The Coram couple said they were issued a parking ticket two years ago, when the meters were fairly new.

“We weren’t familiarized around here, since we had been out of state,” Ms. Friszell said, noting that her husband is a Port Jefferson native. “It’s a little frustrating because we weren’t aware of the rules.”

The ticket isn’t the only thing the Friszells aren’t happy about. They noted that the parking meters or pay stations are aggravating to use.

Each of the parking spaces, which are not along Main Street, is identified by a number. Patrons have to remember the number of their parking space and punch it in, along with their payment, at a pay station in or near the parking lot.

Pay stations accept payment in coins, parking tokens, credit cards and smart cards, which are issued by the village. Visitors can pay at any pay station.

“You go to one pay station, it doesn’t work. For some reason it’s not taking the change, or it’s not registering anything,” Mr. Friszell said. “You go to the next one, it’s the same thing, you go to the next and it’s the same thing and, actually, the last time I was here it was raining and I got soaked.”