Prince George, B.C.- The   offstreet  parking rates in Prince George are  one step closer to being  reduced for the  balance of this year.

Council has voted  to  approve the changes to the bylaw, but  the changes won't take place until May 1st, not the April 1st as had originally been planned. The  delay is a minor legal  point,  as  the bylaw calls for a 30 day notice  of any rate change, and the actual  bylaw change won't be finalized until the end of March, and that doesn't give enough time for the  30 day notice for an April 1st rate change.  So, instead,  Council,  opted for the change to take effect May 1st.

But not all  of Council supported the rollback.

Mayor Green,  and Councilors  Cameron Stolz and  Dave Wilbur  voted against the rate  roll back.  Councilor Dave Wilbur said he voted against it because when it was first presented  he thought  it was an idea that was "half baked" and developed "on the fly" with no details on what the  financial impact would be.  City staff have now advised the rollback will  mean a loss in revenue, to the tune of $156,000 in 2014, a further shortfall of $69,000 from budget projections in 2015 and a loss of  $62,000 from budget projections in 2016.

Councillor Frank Everitt argued that if the rollback plan was "half baked, then the  price increase plan was a little burnt."  He said that while the financial details of the impact of a roll back may not have been known  at the time the rollback was requested, the City may never know how much money would have been lost as people left the parkades because they couldn't afford to pay the new fees.

You may recall, the rates came into  effect January 1st,  and in some cases  the  increases were 100% .  That is not in keeping with past practices argued three Councilors who brought the issue back before their Council colleagues.  Councilors  Lyn Hall, Frank Everitt and Murry Krause called for the  rates to be  reduced  as of April 1st, (the final amendmend  is for the  changes to take effect May1st) and incremental increases  allowed in   each of the next two years.  It was  a move residents  had advised  they would accept, as  they would have time to  prepare for  increases.

Here is the City's  take on how  the  rates last year,  the new rates for 2014, and the amended -proposed rates for the balance of  2014, and the next two years will  roll out: