Local
Meter rates to double in downtown D.C.
December 16, 2008
 |
| Karen Miller pays the parking meter on Constitution Avenue in D.C. Tuesday. Rates for the city’s parking meters may as much as double during the coming year. (Emily J. Reynolds/Special to The Examiner) |
Emergency legislation approved by an 11-2 vote raises the meter rate in the District’s “high-impact areas,” almost entirely downtown, from $1 to $2 per hour. In spots where the current rate is 50 cents, it will increase to 75 cents.
A provision to eliminate free weekend parking was pulled as a compromise to win several on-the-fence members. And Jack Evans convinced fellow Councilman Jim Graham to hand $1 million of the additional revenue to Roadside Development to build affordable housing at its O Street Market development in Evans’ ward.
The remains of the extra meter revenue, in the range of $5 million to $8 million a year, will be committed to three social and housing programs that have been facing substantial budget cuts in the face of declining revenues. They are the Local Rent Supplement Program, the Home Purchase Assistance Program, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
“I don’t think anyone wants to pay more to government,” said Graham, who introduced the emergency bill. “But this government has cut its budget. We’re faced with a situation now where we either continue to cut or we find some new revenue to address fundamental needs for some very poor people.”
At-large Councilman Phil Mendelson voted against the bill, he said, because it was introduced with little analysis to justify the increases. The council, he said, should not adjust its meter rates “piecemeal.”
“We’re bootstrapping certain programs through this parking tax increase and it’s wrong,” he said.
And Ward 4 Councilwoman Muriel Bowser voted no after Evans proposed his O Street Market earmark.
“These programs have to compete [for money] on a level playing field,” she said.
The legislation – passed in the last legislative session of the year – takes effect with Mayor Adrian Fenty’s signature and will remain in place for 225 days, unless the council approves a permanent measure. The Fenty administration backed increased rates so long as the additional meter revenue was tied to transportation infrastructure, as it is today. It is unclear whether Fenty will sign the bill.
