Town: Paid parking plan is legal

“I have been informed if you’re going to call it a fee, those fees have to go toward supporting basically just the streets and such,” said Sand, who also asked whether money from paid parking had to be spent in the vicinity of where it was collected.

According to an item titled “Fees for Municipal Services” by Paul Sanderson, Esq., that is posted on the New Hampshire Municipal Association website, fees “must bear a reasonable relationship to the actual costs of regulating the issue at hand.”

The very next day, Eastman set about getting an opinion from town legal counsel Jason Dennis, which he brought to the budget committee on Monday, Jan. 9 and told the selectmen and a reporter about it on Tuesday, Jan. 10.  

Citing several state laws, Eastman said the town has the authority to install parking meters in North Conway under RSA 231:130 and the way the money can be used is spelled out in RSA 231:131.

According to Eastman, town counsel said the town can charge fees greater than the amount of the cost to maintain the parking program and that the money can be used on streets where there are no parking meters.  

“Given the applicable legal authority, and the variety of ways revenue can be used to maintain and improve highways and to manage public parking and public transportation, the town remains confident in the validity and utility of instituting the use of parking meters in the town, and we are hopeful that the business community sees the benefit in working with the town on this,” said Eastman, reading the statement Dennis helped craft.

Eastman also said the parking program is estimated to save the average homeowner about 21 cents per $1,000 valuation on their tax bill in 2023, which is a partial year because the program won’t start until summer.

Median home price, according to a contracted assessor, is $280,400, but if the town does an assessment, the median would go up to $372,000 and that would change the 21-cent estimate as well.

Eastman said program is estimated to bring in $675,000 of revenue annually.

Deputy Town Manager Paul DegliAngeli believes the revenue estimates will pan out because they rely on a “conservative” 50 percent parking utilization average. He said this doesn’t take into account people who park, don’t use their time, then someone comes in after the first person leaves and pays again.

Eastman told the Sun that the money would go to the highway department. He said that hypothetically, if the highway budget were $2 million and parking fees brought in $500,000, then taxpayers would pay only $1.5 million.

Selectmen could also make a revenue fund with the money and ask the voters if they want to use the money for another purpose.

“That (special fund) is what Portsmouth does,” said Eastman. “But the difference is they don’t have town meeting; they have a city council.”

Portsmouth raises just under $4 million per year from parking fees. They use the money for streets and highways and put some of it in a special fund to spend on other things.

Eastman quoted Dennis as saying the town, for example, could use the money to beef up police patrols in North Conway.

During the Jan. 4 budget committee meeting, it was asked if selectmen would try to go ahead with paid parking even if voters cut the $242,000 they want to earmark for it out of the proposed operating budget. The Sun asked the board about it on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

“There’s been no discussion on that at all,” said Chairman David Weathers.

Selectman Carl Thibodeau replied, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to a question.”

Weathers and Selectman Mary Carey Seavey are up for re-election in April. Weathers had supported making paid parking a separate warrant article and Seavey had wavered but ultimately voted to put it in the budget on Dec. 6. Residents will vote on the budget at the deliberative session in March and at the polls in April.

Paid parking in North Conway Village would cost $2 per hour and run during business hours seven days a week year-round (though starting later on Sunday). Residents could pay $5 to get an annual pass. According to the present plan, North Conway employees who live out of town could park for free in certain lots if their employers spend $20 per employee vehicle.