Fewer Free Parking Days in Portsmouth?

Mayor Eric Spear surprised many of his fellow City Councilors on Monday when he proposed making changes to the city's parking rules to raise more money to lower the property tax rate.

Specifically, Spear wants to reduce the number of free holiday parking days from 18 days to 10 days per year and extend parking enforcement until 9 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.

According to Spear, these changes, if adopted by the City Council by a simple majority vote, would raise nearly $400,000 in new parking revenues that could be then applied to the more than $92.8 million budget the council just passed on Monday.

Spear said the free holiday parking days reduction would generate $53,000 in revenue and cut the property tax rate by 1 cent. He said the two hours of additional on street parking enforcement would raise another $360,000 and cut the tax rate another 9 cents.

"We passed the budget which dictates how much we will spend. However, we
have a chance to choose how we raise the revenue. So, as long as we make
these changes soon, we can lower the tax rate for the next fiscal year," Spear wrote in an e-mail on Thursday morning.

If approved by the council before June 30, the last day of the current fiscal year, the city's new anticipated property tax rate would drop from $17.91 per $1,000 of assessed valuation to $17.81 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

What do you think about Mayor Eric Spear's parking proposal to further reduce city property taxes? Let us know in the comments below.