Former Conway Selectman Larry Martin praises the Selectmen Tuesday for looking at charging for parking in North Conway. (DAYMOND STEER PHOTO)
Former Conway Selectman Larry Martin praises the Selectmen Tuesday for looking at charging for parking in North Conway. (DAYMOND STEER PHOTO)
CONWAY — At the selectmen's last meeting, a handful of residents asked the board to explore charging for parking and coming up with other means of reducing taxes.
Agenda item No. 8 at Tuesday's selectmen's meeting was "Paid Parking in North Conway Village." The town instituted paid parking for out-of-towners at Davis Park, First Bridge and Smith Eastman Landing several summers ago — $20 per day or $3 per hour at Smith Eastman.
Now town staff propose charging for parking in North Conway Village.
The details haven't been worked out yet, and Tuesday, a preliminary discussion of the plan took place.
"The revenues we'll be looking at, we believe, will be over a million dollars a year, the expenses would be something like 15 percent of that," Town Manager Tom Holmes, who is retiring come July 31.
Revenue from the paid parking must be used for road maintenance and equipment for the same like snowplows and dump trucks, said Holmes who told the Sun that "based on last year's tax base numbers, every million netted would have reduced the tax rate 54 cents. A (home with a) $250,000 assessed value would see a reduction of $135 a year."
Incoming town manager John Eastman, who as parks and rec director was in charge of the rec site parking program, said he isn't seeking to charge local workers to park in North Conway.
"I am looking at many options for employees and will present that plan to the selectmen once I have explored all options," said Eastman.
"My recommendation will be to set up a zone where employees can park for free. This zone will not include on-street parking," he said.
At Tuesday's discussion, former selectman Larry Martin praised the board for looking at finding new sources of revenue.
"I want to thank the administration for being proactive and looking at ways to generate additional revenue for the town without putting it on the backs of the taxpayers," said Martin. "That's a real giant step."
Martin said this is the first year in the 47 he has lived in town that it's been a "struggle" to pay taxes. Martin said he's fine with paying to park when he visits places like Hampton Beach or Las Vegas.
"Why not get the money from the person that's putting the burden on the services?" said Martin, who also noted that resistance to change is human nature. "Nobody readily accepts change, except a baby crying with a messy diaper."
Conway Municipal Budget Committee Chair Jim LeFebvre called Martin's comments "classically brilliant."
Resident Frann Ravid, who works as a house cleaner and said she lives in her "little dream home" in Center Conway, asked selectmen to be "creative and bold" in seeking new revenues. Her family is trying to cut costs and increase their income. For instance, now she dog-sits and assembles furniture to make ends meet.
"I worry that my taxes are going to go up so much that I will have to move," said Ravid. "So, I'm here because I want to implore you to remember all the regular folk who call this wonderful town their home."
Resident Amy Snow said she liked the idea of having tourists contribute to the town more but wondered if the town could really enforce it. She suggested the attendants who will be monitoring Whitaker Woods' bathrooms could also enforce the paid parking.
To put the $1 million into perspective, the town has an operating budget of $12.7 million and the school district budget is nearly $40 million and both the town and the school district appropriate even more than that at annual meeting depending on which warrant articles pass.
Conway's base tax rate inclusive of town, county and school taxes is $16.34 per thousand of assessed value. On top of that, residents also pay precinct taxes ranging from 99 cents in Redstone to $2.10 in North Conway.
Holmes said that according to the New Hampshire Municipal Association, it would be "wise" for selectmen to put the paid parking program on the warrant for next year, and that would mean public hearings and the ability for people to discuss it at deliberative session.
Selectmen voted 5-0 to direct staff to start developing a paid parking program in North Conway Village to be presented at their earliest convenience.
Holmes also gave an update on how the recreational paid parking program is doing. As of July 10, the town grossed $25,900 and has netted about $19,700. About $10,000 came from the $5 stickers sold to Conway and Albany property owners.
Selectmen also discussed changing Davis Park to the Smith Eastman fee model. Selectman John Colbath said general paid parking issues like the fee at Davis Park should be addressed at a future meeting.
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