Victoria considers raising parking costs to offset property tax rates

The City of Victoria is considering raising downtown parking prices to help soften an impending property tax increase in the municipality.

Downtown Victoria is a busy area most days, and finding parking is a problem for many.

"Normally I don’t come downtown very much at all," said Alix Lines, as she paid for parking on Broad Street on Thursday morning.

"If I go anywhere I got to a mall where I can park for free," she said.

Businesses in the core say they hear complaints pretty much everyday from customers, and expect more to come as Victoria council mulls a potential price hike for parking at a special budget meeting Friday.

"Our customers….already complain about the parking situation in downtown," said David Keay, general manager of Robinson’s Outdoor Store.

"Parking is one of the nightmares we have to deal with as a business owner," added B. Woodward, owner of Cherry Bomb Toys.

City staff presented a report to city council saying a nine per cent property tax increase was needed to maintain current city service levels this year. That proposal had council sending city staff back to the books.

"So we’ve essentially capped that," said Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto. "6.96 per cent is the rate they we’ve been advised is current."

City staff say to cap the property tax rate at the preferred 6.96 per cent, increasing parking rates in city-owned spaces downtown could be an option to generate more income for the city.

"Parking is always a tough issue," said Alto.

"The proposal we have on the table is pretty modest actually, comparatively speaking, when you look at other communities of this size," she said.

What the city is pitching is an increase of 50 cents per hour in both street and parkade parking, and extending paid parking on the street from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Business owners say there's no easy solution since they're concerned about higher property taxes as well as customers staying away due to increased parking costs.

"Either way, for a small business it’s a losing situation," said Keay. 

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