In a jam-packed conference room last Wednesday night, MoCo County Council Transportation Committee Chairwoman Nancy Floreen rolled out her parking space tax proposal before the county’s business community. Hey, do any of you remember the old Waylon Jennings song, “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places?”
First, a few details on the Council Member’s proposal. Drawing on one of the recommendations of last year’s county-sponsored Working Group on Infrastructure Financing, Ms. Floreen suggested levying an annual $250 tax per commercial parking space. The tax would apply to both for-profit and non-profit owners and would be indexed to increase with inflation. Owners could reduce the levy by up to 50% if they had a traffic mitigation agreement that required employees to pay market parking rates and gave employees discounts for transit use and carpools. Owners who did not pay the tax would be subject to interest, penalties and possible conviction of a Class A violation. Proceeds of the tax would be dedicated to transit projects only.
Present in the room to greet the Council Member were nearly 40 people representing county employers, including GEICO, Foulger Pratt, Washington REIT, Colonial Parking and Discovery Communications. Everyone who spoke opposed the proposal on a variety of grounds. Chamber of Commerce Vice-President Lisa Fadden questioned the fairness of the tax, noting that upcounty employers would pay it but not have access to the transit projects it would fund. Foulger Pratt principal Bryant Foulger estimated that the tax could reduce county property values by up to $1 billion, thereby depressing property tax receipts. Former Chamber of Commerce CEO Rich Parsons called the tax a “non-starter” and declared, “I would not go anywhere near a parking tax now or in the near future if you care about the business climate here.” Several other people called the tax an example of “double taxation” because they already pay property taxes on their lots.
But the crowd did not simply say no to all new revenues. One attendee claimed that switching to digital meters could raise extra money without raising rates. Another participant suggesting levying an infrastructure surcharge on top of the property tax, phasing it in and sunsetting it later. One wag joked about setting up toll booths on I-270 and US-29 at the county lines to snare commuters. (As a former District of Columbia resident, I can tell you that such ideas are taken seriously down there.)
Ms. Floreen and the attendees may have disagreed about this specific proposal, but all acknowledged the need for new transportation funding. And the Council Member deserves credit for calling the question. As the Chairwoman of the County Council’s Transportation Committee, her job is to build the infrastructure that the county needs. And that job has become a lot tougher with the state’s billion-dollar transportation cut, an adjustment that favors Baltimore’s Red Line over MoCo’s Purple Line and Corridor Cities Transitway. It would be the easiest thing in the world for Ms. Floreen to hang back, do nothing and complain about the state. Instead, she continues to look for project funding even at the risk of offering unpopular ideas.
As for the business community, they favor transportation funding. During the 2007 special session, the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce called for a 6-cent increase in the state’s gas tax. During the last general session, the Chamber advocated for a $600 million revenue increase for the state’s Transportation Trust Fund. Chamber CEO Georgette Godwin laid out three criteria for transportation funding that the Chamber would support:
1. The revenue source should be broad-based and raised from both business and residents.
2. The revenue should be dedicated to transportation and not diverted to other uses.
3. The financed projects should include both transit and road projects in order to address the needs of every part of the county.
One sentiment united every person in the meeting: an absolute disdain for the county’s statehouse delegation. NO ONE credited them for bringing back adequate infrastructure funding from the state. When one participant suggested that the Council “work more with the state delegation,” the room broke out with rueful smiles and shaking heads. “We have got to get our delegation on the same sheet of music,” blustered one attendee. Another captured the prevailing cynicism in the room by railing, “There is no consequence for bad behavior at the state level!”
Regardless of the reaction to Ms. Floreen’s parking tax proposal (which she has since withdrawn), this discussion hammered home a fundamental truth: Montgomery County in the broadest sense favors more transportation funding. Prior to the 2007 special session, business called for a gas tax increase. So did the County Executive. So did the County Council. Governor O’Malley proposed indexing the gas tax for inflation. But instead, the legislature chose to increase vehicle excise taxes and title certificate fees and to devote part of its sales tax hike to transportation. Those revenues are now falling short while the needs are as acute as ever.