MONTEREY – The Monterey City Council voted against asking voters if they want to enact an 8% parking tax to help curb the city’s projected $10 million budget deficit for the next fiscal year.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the council voted unanimously to scrap the June ballot measure, directing staff to bring more information forward and explore options for placing the measure on the November ballot.
The tax would have applied to privately owned parking facilities in the city. Under the proposal each occupant would be subject to pay 8% of the parking fee charged by the operator.
Exemptions would have included hotel, city-owned and residential parking, this would apply to privately owned venues. The city attorney clarified that state-owned facilities like Monterey Fairgrounds would be subjected to the 8% tax.
City staff estimates this would generate $372,000 to $745,000 annually, based on 1,418 privately owned spaces at $18 a day, with the $372,000 at about 50% occupancy every day, and $745,000 at full capacity.
“We know that parking is higher during our Cali Roots week or during Car Week, and outside of tourist season the parking prices will be lower, so that number ($18) will fluctuate,” said Finance Director Rafaela King.
Public speakers included representatives from Cannery Row and Portola Hotel & Spa, speaking against the tax being solely placed on private venues. Speakers asked why wasn’t public city parking being included as well, and claimed that the city would only make a few thousand dollars off the tax, versus the hundreds of thousands in the estimates.
“This 8% tax is mostly going to hit locals, these are people who are going to shop downtown, dining in restaurants, going to the Golden State Theatre,” said Janine Chicourrat, managing director for Portola Hotel & Spa. “Taxing your way out of this deficit is not the solution.”
City staff will look into adding public parking into their counts, decide what is included in public parking and have more exact numbers on the cost of parking spaces within the city.
