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Date: 3/17/2022
AMHERST – Parking permit fees and regulations will soon be adjusted and changed in Amherst following the March 10 meeting of The Town Services and Outreach (TSO) Committee of the Town Council.
The TSO met for a public hearing and committee discussion on the proposed changes to Permit Parking Regulations which detailed plans for a slight parking fee increase for certain people in Amherst. The proposed change sees resident permits with Amherst vehicle registrations raise from $50 up to $150 over a three year span that would start in the 2022-2023 permit year. For resident permits with non-Amherst vehicle registrations, costs will move from $100 to $400 in the same time frame.
Other increases over the time period are for employer/employee permits, as well as lower level Boltwood Garage reserved space permits. Town Finance Director Sean Mangano presented the draft of the changes to the TSO and said while the major change was coming from fee changes, that the last time the parking permit system was updated was 2005.
The decision to change the difference in resident permit based on registered vehicles came from the fact that the town does not receive any excise tax from out-of-town vehicles. The town saw more than half of the vehicles using permit parking were vehicles registered from outside of town.
“We thought there was logic and fairness in this decision,” Mangano said. “The raises in costs over three years is to minimize the impact of any one year. We wanted to keep this affordable for people who work in downtown.”
Mangano added these changes were done with an eye toward capital improvements to the parking system and an attempt to generate additional revenue. Revenue earned from parking permits and parking in Amherst in general go toward a public transportation fund.
TSO member and Town Councilor Andy Steinberg shared that from the point of view of the Finance Committee – another town group on which Steinberg serves – the need for enhancing parking revenues was a significant financial factor for the town.
“We’ve just been through a long period of time where revenues substantially decreased for the parking system and as a result we are farther behind than we would’ve been,” Steinberg said. “It is what it is and it happened, but it needs to be noted.”
Steinberg added he felt the changes in fees were fair if you look at the going rate for spaces at the UMass Campus, as well as surrounding towns rates on parking. Steinberg suggested speeding up the process of price increases to a two year growth period, but ultimately other members of the TSO felt there was not a specific reason or project to rush this revenue back when it is directly impacting people who have to pay to park in town.
Town Councilor Cathy Schoen, who was in attendance for the hearing, said she felt there was no reason why the costs for resident permit parking for non-registered Amherst vehicles shouldn’t be at $400 when you consider the rate at UMass and that it would be a better move to raise revenues.
There were no members of the public who commented during the public forum on the changes, so the TSO moved into a deeper look page by page of the permit regulation changes and made edits on language of the draft as well as a few minor changes to signage. The TSO also brainstormed possibilities for the underground parking garage at Boltwood but did not make any notable changes to the availability status of the spaces.
The TSO ended their meeting with a 3-0-1 abstention vote, with one councilor absent, to approve a recommendation to the Town Council to adopt the changes to the permit parking regulations.