Halifax puts the brakes on paid Saturday parking, passes largest budget ever

Halifax has passed its largest-ever municipal budget at $1.2 billion, with taxes rising to pay for major projects and city services, but a controversial move to bring in paid Saturday parking was reversed.

On Tuesday, a dozen business owners and advocates told the city's budget committee how paid Saturday parking would further deter customers — who already think there's nowhere to park — from coming downtown.

They said the move amid high inflation, repaying federal loans stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, and a retail and service-industry worker shortage, was simply too harmful.

"This is, in my view, a dangerous decision at this time under these circumstances," Christian Rankin, co-owner of the Obladee Wine Bar on Barrington Street, told the committee. 

Rankin said not every Haligonian might be interested in local theatre, concerts, or sports teams like the Halifax Wanderers or Mooseheads, but these events are doing the "overwhelming amount of the work" to make the downtown dynamic.

He said that energy is a large part of Halifax's pitch to get more people and companies moving into the area.

"This is not about helping small businesses as much as it's about supporting the vibrancy of downtown for the benefit of the city and everybody in it," Rankin said.

The original parking plan, approved by the committee in March, would have brought in a $2-hourly fee for street parking in the Spring Garden Road area, downtown Halifax and downtown Dartmouth from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.

The idea was one of many staff brought to councillors as a way to balance the budget and keep tax bills below the eight per cent hike that was initially suggested. 

Coun. Pam Lovelace put forward the motion to cancel the parking plan, saying she'd heard from many people in her Hammonds Plains district who don't have Saturday bus service and rely on their cars to drive downtown.

"This is the wrong time to do this. Certainly we can do this in the future," Lovelace said.

Although most other major cities in Canada have paid weekend parking — and the Town of Lunenburg charges for Saturday as well — Lovelace said it's not a "fair comparison" since those other areas are more walkable or have reliable regular transit throughout the municipality.

While other councillors pointed out that paid parking might actually help turnover to keep spots free for shoppers, councillors agreed there was not enough data to show whether that would be the case in Halifax. 

Average residential tax bill going up by 5.9%

The budget committee eventually voted to cancel the Saturday parking plan, which removed $538,000 in potential annual revenue from the budget.

"I'm delighted that council had a sober second thought on the issue," Brian Doherty, owner of the Old Triangle pub in Halifax, told reporters after the committee meeting.

That loss of parking revenue meant the planned 5.8 per cent bump in the average single-family residential tax bill went up slightly to 5.9 cent, or $128, to a total of $2,288. Even though Halifax decreased the tax rate itself from  0.794 to 0.760, the bills are going up largely due to the major spike in property assessments across the Halifax Regional Municipality.

Sue Uteck, executive director of the Spring Garden Area Business Association, said business owners will be "relieved" about the delay, but are still prepared to look at the issue.

"There will be time when it comes, when businesses have had a time to recover and … we'll explore the options. We're happy to do that," Uteck said.

Uteck and the Downtown Halifax Business Commission said they are working to spread the word that there are thousands of parking spots available in downtown Halifax on the street, or in lots and parkades.

The $1.2-billion budget includes an operating budget of $979.6 million, provincial mandatory contributions of $192.2 million, and a capital plan of $333.3 million.

Some major items include $40.7 million for Halifax Transit's electric bus procurement and Ragged Lake Transit Centre expansion, $35.6 million for the Cogswell District project, and $1.1 million for the city's homelessness framework.

The final Halifax Regional Police budget was roughly $95 million, including $322,000 for a psychologist and occupational health and safety nurse, which was turned down at Board of Police Commissioners but approved at budget committee. The city is paying for four more RCMP members this fiscal year as well, costing about $716,200.

A new commercial tax policy came into effect on April 1, which shifts millions in the tax burden from downtown areas to business parks. There are now five new tax areas with their own tiered rates, so it's now no longer possible to illustrate the average tax impact to a commercial property.