Covington eyes up free MainStrasse parking

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If Covington residents want more police and firefighters, they might have to pay more for parking, including paying for parking for the first time in the MainStrasse Village business district.

Covington officials Tuesday discussed details of a proposal to make a few blocks in MainStrasse pay parking.

It’s part of a potential formula that includes a property tax hike and an increase on parking meters to raise enough money to hire four additional police officers and five additional firefighters.

The city needs to raise an additional $800,000 to do this. This would also allow the city to also give a 3 percent raise to non-union employees to keep up with raises union employees received, City Manager Larry Klein said.

“I think it’s very attainable,” said Klein. “It’s reasonable. Our property tax rate has remained flat for many, many years. We’d be taking an increase to keep up with the cost of doing business. The parking fee increases, those are reasonable. Our rates are very competitive.”

The proposal has spurred much debate in MainStrasse, with many business owners and residents unsure whether this will help, hurt or not have much impact. In addition to raising revenue, the MainStrasse parking plan is designed to create regular turnover of vehicles, city officials said.

More than a dozen residents spoke Tuesday night. Some feared it would push more people to try to find free parking on side streets. Others hoped it would free up parking.

There needs to be a plan in place to make sure there's parking for the new restaurants slated to open up, said Shawn Masters, a former city commissioner who lives and works in MainStrasse. He asked residents to give the plan a chance.

"Within the coming months, we're going to have eight new restaurants opening in MainStrasse, and where are those people going to park?" Masters said. "The last thing I think as a community that we want to see happen is that their business is being impeded because we don't have enough turnover."

Chris Penn, owner of Cock & Bull English Pub, doesn’t see how it could help business. Competition from Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine and The Banks has cut into the revenues of MainStrasse businesses over the past three years, Penn said. The timing of this proposal couldn’t have come at a worse time, he said.

“I understand the city wants revenue, but they get their fair share from our employees and their taxes,” Penn said. “Raising the cost of business in a down economy does not make any sense in the world.”

Paul Weckman has much at stake in MainStrasse. In addition to living there, he has owned Main Street restaurant Otto’s for 12 years and is opening his second restaurant, Frida, on Main Street soon. He’s ambivalent about the proposal to add pay parking around his restaurants.

There’s a need on weekends to spur parking turnover, he said. But he’s unsure what affect it would have on business and whether it would generate much return.

“It doesn’t seem to be a lucrative piece of business for the budget,” Weckman said. “Realistically, it seems like chump change. With all that being said, I don’t have a magic bullet for the city’s budget problems.”

MainStrasse resident Lauren Olson has mixed feelings on the parking plan. She sees pros and cons. In the end, she doesn’t think it will have much impact.

“I don’t think it will destroy visitation to Covington, but I’m not sure it will be a giant shot in the arm, either,” Olson said.

What's being proposed

Under the proposal, the city-owned lot and most on-street parking from Main Street between Fifth and Seventh streets and Sixth Street between Philadelphia and Johnson streets would cost 35 cents per half hour. The city would install pay stations that would run 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Certain portions of Sixth, Bakewell and Main streets would be residential-only. Residential passes would cost $25 a year. The city-owned parking lot along Fifth Street would cost $1 per half hour with a maximum of $2. The fees would be in effect 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.

The city would also resurface a parking area between Pershing Avenue and West Seventh Street for monthly parking, charging $25 a month.

MainStrasse south of Seventh Street would remain free.

City staff estimates this would generate $60,000 annually, only a fraction of the total needed to hire the additional public safety staff.

The city appears poised to raise parking rates all across town. If the city raised the rates on parking meters from 35 cents to 55 cents, that would bring in an additional $100,000 annually.

More than just parking will be needed to raise revenue

A large portion, about $200,000, would come from a property tax increase. The city commission will consider taking the maximum rate increase allowable under state law that isn’t subject to a referendum. That’s a rate that will bring in 4 percent more revenue than last year. That would increase the tax from $304.50 per $100,000 of assessed valuation to $313.

Additional money could come from the insurance tax increase passed this year by the City Commission. The insurance tax went from 10 percent to 12 percent, generating an additional $1 million a year.

The city has also applied for federal grants to hire additional police and firefighters.

Why consider parking fee and property tax increase?

So why is the city considering this?

The backlash city commissioners received from cuts made to the police and fire departments in recent years spurred the city to look for more money.

Pension costs have helped erode the city’s finances and kept them from replacing some retired firefighters and police officers.

The police force over the past 10 years has dwindled from 116 officers to under 100.

Average daily staffing for the fire department went from 27 firefighters per day to 26 on July 1. This forced moving an ambulance and two firefighters from the South Covington firehouse.

Residents, notably many from South Covington, voiced angry protests to commissioners. Many have said they’d be willing to pay more for parking and property tax increases if it meant restoring cuts to the police and fire departments.

The four additional police officers and five firefighters would allow them to keep up with retirements. The fire department could once again go back to 27 firefighters a day.

Commissioners seemed adverse to raising the payroll tax rate on businesses or putting a larger tax increase on the ballot. So it appears the city is headed toward this hybrid approach. The city will set the property tax rate later this month.

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