Chamber Survey Says No to Downtown Pay Parking
Prince George, B.C.- A survey of members of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce membership, those who responded indicate they don’t want pay parking to return to downtown Prince George.
The Chamber received 151 responses from it’s 870 members, a mark which Chamber CEO Jennifer Brandle –McCall says is the best survey return ever.
Of the 151 responses 86 came from businesses not located in the downtown area. (56.9%)
The bottom line was that 66% of all respondents say pay parking should NOT be reinstated in the downtown core, 25% said it should and 9% were uncertain.
However, the number who support a return to paid parking rose numbers changed dramatically when the following question was asked:
If all revenues from metered parking were designated for road repair/maintenance would you be in favour of pay parking downtown?
45.6% said they would support pay parking downtown if all proceeds went to road repair or maintenance, 52.9% said no, and only 1.3% were uncertain.
“That truly was the big surprise for me” says Brandle-McCall “clearly those who were uncertain about the return of pay parking moved over to being in favour if the money went towards road repair.”
The survey results won’t be just filed away. Brandle-McCall says the Chamber will ask to present the full results to the City’s Finance and Audit committee. That committee is examining options for returning pay parking to the downtown core. She says the Downtown Business Improvement Association has also asked for details of the survey as they did not conduct their own because they were aware the Chamber was carrying out such a survey.
The survey also provided an opportunity for comment. “We understand from the survey comments that members are concerned about the timing of any return to pay parking. The same comment was stated over and over again, ‘Now is not the time’ ” says Brandle-McCall. She adds, “We also heard from our members that the decision to reinstate pay parking is an attempt to punish those that are abusing the current system at the expense of the downtown shoppers. Many creative solutions were made in this survey by members as to how to deal with the root of the abuse issue, suggestions that we will certainly be sharing with the Municipal Finance and Audit Committee.”
Comments
It’s expected that the downtown retailers will experience an 18% drop in business when the meters are put in place.
If you’re not a retailer, I guess it doesn’t matter, but most of the downtown buildings are retail related.
An 18% drop in business will mean an even more significant drop in net operating income which in turn will mean a drop in assessed values in the buildings. BC Assessment assesses buildings based in part by the success of the businesses downtown.
A drop in the assessed values will mean a drop in property tax revenue for the City.
Sure the City will get $80,000 more in revenue from the meters, but if the assessed values drop by even 1% because of the meters, this will be more than wiped out by a loss in property taxes.
This is a bad move all around.
Icicle, where does that 18% number come from?
FWIW, when the assessed value of my house dropped, I still paid the same, or more, in taxes. I would think that things will work in a similar way for downtown merchants, and every other property owner in the city.
I agree that it’s a bad move.
News2me, when the meters were removed, the downtown business reported an 18% increase in business in the two months that followed based on surveys done by the DBIA at the time.
It’s reasonable to assume that a similar or larger drop in business will happen when the meters are installed. The proposed meters are worse that what was there year ago though. The new meters will be mounted mid-block. You’ll have to walk to them, get a ticket, walk back to your car and put it on the dash. It will be even more inconvenient.
You are right that if all properties in Prince George drop in value, the City will just jack up the mill rate. The City will still get its revenues, but they will get more from other properties outside the downtown when they get less from the downton. People in College Heights will pay more taxes to cover what is lost in the downtown tax revenues. For the record, the downtown provides roughly 8% of the tax base.
Are there no more sweet deals for buisnesses downtown like a tax holiday?
It costs more money to police than it’s worth. You can bet you bottom that it will be contracted out to the same company that does the hospital and other medical bldgs. The price will rise dramatically.
When I received a threatening letter from this company to pay my bill or lose my credit rating, I asked where they got my name and address. I don’t think ICBC or or anyone else is allowed to give that information to a private company simply by a license plate number.
Long story short–they gave up trying to collect 30 bucks but they informrd me that they could seize my vehicle if it was parked in their controlled lot again.
I will never pay money to park at my doctors office or a hospital. I guess we’ll see what happens next time but I don’t think it would be legal for them to tow it away either.
Bottom line—the Chamber loves the HST but doesn’t like parking meters. Strange.
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