Regional Parking Tax Faces Business Opposition In Vancouver
TransLink, the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority, plans to tax businesses per square meter of parking space in order to help pay for a $1.9 billion, three-year improvement plan.
"The Retail Council of Canada is adding its voice to the growing chorus of businesses opposed to a controversial parking levy imposed by TransLink to pay for its $1.9-billion improvement program...The Retail Council joins the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and hundreds of Greater Vancouver businesses that are voicing opposition to the tax. It's expected nearly 1,000 business owners in the Greater Vancouver area will file appeals before a Tuesday deadline. By late this week, almost 540 appeals had been received, said parking site roll manager Andrew Moffat, an official with the B.C. Assessment Authority, which has been contracted by TransLink to administer the tax."
"The new tax will cost owners of commercial properties, but not residential owners, $1.02 per square-metre of parking space, as determined by the B.C. Assessment Authority...The parking site tax is being levied to raise $25 million for TransLink's $1.9 billion three-year improvement plan which includes eight major new road projects, a new Golden Ears Bridge, modernizing and expanding the bus fleet and improving and expanding the cycling network."
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Parking Tax
In principle the new parking tax appears to be a positive development since it links directly the tax with the infrastructure costs. I think that the property taxes are much more objectionable in this regard.
The implementation of the parking tax, however, is a totally different matter. A quick review of the GVTA Act, By-laws and the forms distributed by the BC Assessment reveals a number of legally questionable practices driven by overzealous TransLink to increase the parking area. Here is what I have found so far:
1. TransLink assesses individual owners of the Strata Corporation rather than the Corporation itself, which is in charge of the common property such as parking area. The obvious reason is that Strata would have more muscle to challenge the assessment. This also put unreasonable burden to the individual owner since he would have to dispute assessment of the whole Strata rather than of his property alone.
2. Loading zones and bays of a manufacturing company are considered a parking area. There is no legal basis for this practice. The GVTA Act clearly defines parking site as “ the area and the access to the space used, designed or available for parking” . Loading zones for delivery of goods are clearly not related to parking especially since in most cases parking in such areas is prohibited and the area is marked as a tow-away zone.
3. Access lanes to buildings are considered a parking area. The GVTA Act allows only taxing the access to the parking area.
4. The By-law 47-2005 makes an exception for the car dealers and car renters. The exception is obviously made because TransLink recognized that parking a vehicle is part of conducting car dealer’s business. This is double standard. Why should the car dealers be exempt while the manufacturers are penalized for owning a material loading area?
5. Loading/commercial area on the main road is exempt. This is not fair. Since such area is usually at the location designed for parking and thus reduces the number of parking stalls it should actually be taxed and at a higher rate.