Downtown Spokane property and business owners are rightly voicing opposition to a planned parking tax of 12% on commercial parking lots in the city, just at the time efforts are being made to improve a core that has lately struggled with homelessness, drug use, and high vacancy rates. We share their opposition.

According to city leaders, the goal of the proposed tax is to incentivize the development of commercial parking lots into residential and commercial structures, and to raise revenue to ease the city's projected budget deficit.

Implementing the tax is projected to generate an estimated $2 million in annual revenue that would be spent on transportation projects in the city. A reduced tax rate of 6% will apply to parking lot structures with underground lots or at least two floors. Additionally, parking lots that are currently under redevelopment for residential or commercial uses would qualify for the reduced tax rate if permits have been submitted for development in the near future.

On-street parking, which is operated by the city, in addition to designated employee parking, residential parking, and student parking, would be exempt from the tax. However, hospitals, downtown businesses, and some public venues that offer commercial parking would be impacted.

This all comes as the downtown core has already been challenged in recent years due to an unsafe reputation and high vacancy rates, and while new efforts to address public safety concerns are just starting to show progress. Increased parking fees likely will discourage visitation, burden consumers with higher parking fees, and damage government trust due to a lack of transparency regarding how the tax rates have been determined and how and where the revenue will be spent. 

It's concerning that the proposed tax was already baked into the city's budget, which has been underway for a while now, but the tax increase has only been discussed publicly in recent weeks.

The Downtown Spokane Partnership, Greater Spokane Incorporated, and the Spokane Business Association have expressed their opposition to the proposal, for good reason.

The proposed tax is the wrong proposal at the wrong time. It comes across as tone deaf amid the city core's struggles and the collaborative efforts to solve those struggles.

The Spokane City Council has delayed a vote by a week, and has amended the proposal to give parking lot operators a three-month grace period at the beginning of the year if the tax is approved. Ultimately, consideration of the tax should be either dropped completely or set aside until a comprehensive stakeholder process can establish a clear understanding of the proposal's purpose and impacts.

Building a budget on the back of a fragile downtown core is clearly not the answer.