(The Center Square) – Downtown business leaders are voicing concerns after the Spokane City Council eyed a new 12% parking tax on Monday, with little notice, and a vote already slated for later this month.
Emilie Cameron, president of the Downtown Spokane Partnership, emailed a letter to the officials and their staff on Monday. It hit their inboxes just a few hours before Jon Snyder, the city’s transportation and sustainability director, presented Mayor Lisa Brown’s proposal amid $13 million general fund gap.
If approved, the tax would generate additional revenue next year, but the mayor can only spend it on transportation projects, so it can’t plug the general fund; however, it can reduce reliance on transfers.
Snyder said roughly 30% of downtown consists of parking facilities, including about 37,000 individual stalls, 85% of which are off-street parking, with occupancy maxing out at about 56%. Snyder says the parking tax could incentivize economic development, but Cameron and others expressed skepticism.
“I’m writing to share significant concerns regarding this new 12% tax that would begin in less than 60 days,” Cameron wrote on behalf of the DSP. “This plan is being proposed without notification, opportunity for input or engagement, leaving property owners and their tenants, hoteliers, destination attractions and parking operators — who will shoulder its impact — with little time to react or provide input.”
Snyder presented the tax proposal during the council’s Finance and Administration Committee meeting on Monday. The council office sent out the agenda on the Friday before that meeting. Still, many people didn’t see it until Monday, along with a memo attached from Brown’s policy adviser, Adam McDaniel.
The memo included 10 pages explaining the parking tax, with an effective date set for Jan. 1, 2026.
Councilmember Zack Zappone told The Center Square on Thursday that they plan to vote on adopting the tax by the end of this month with the mayor’s proposed budget modifications. If approved, the tax will help close the $13 million deficit with new revenue from a parks levy that voters approved this week, cutting several general fund transfers, higher investment earnings and cost recovery, along with cuts to various departments, including the police investigations budget by more than $1 million next year.
According to a recent survey conducted by Greater Spokane Incorporated, 72% of voters don’t trust the city of Spokane to spend their tax dollars responsibly; 68% also think the city already has enough money to address its priorities and that the mayor and council just need to spend it more effectively.
GSI found that only 62% of people feel safe downtown, which falls to 25% after the sun goes down.
“The lack of analysis and compressed timeline for review are deeply concerning as a new parking tax would directly harm downtown Spokane at a time when we can least afford it,” Cameron wrote. “It will become more expensive to park, discouraging visitation and activity at a time when we are all working to attract more people … and adding another financial barrier sends exactly the wrong message.”
One of the issues driving the deficit is plateauing sales tax growth. Some businesses have moved out of downtown due to crime and homelessness. While the council recently replaced Spokane’s camping ban, leading to improvement in some areas, Cameron is worried the parking tax could deter visitors.
Gordon Hester, president and chief executive officer of Kiemle Hagood, a local property management company, also expressed concern in an email thread sent to hundreds of residents and local officials.
“We have 32% vacancy in the office market downtown,” Hester wrote Monday. “This adds over $6,000 a year to my company’s cost to be here and is another reason to get out of the City of Spokane.”
Hester called the proposal “economic suicide” because of its potential impact on downtown businesses.
Snyder said the tax would exempt disabled parking, government vehicles, residential parking, student parking, employee parking, carpools and on-street parking with city meters. If a lot has more than two floors of commercial parking, or some below ground level, it only has to charge a 6% parking tax.
While unpopular among many local business leaders, two residents testified in support of the proposal on Monday. Kaylee Jackman, who also sits on the city’s Transportation Commission, said Spokane is “plagued” by all of its surface lots, which she called “wasted opportunities” for housing and business.
Chris Batten, a real estate broker who sits on the Spokane Business Association’s Board of Directors, also testified on Monday, but called the proposal another tax on downtown. He said the vast majority of surface lots are downtown, warning that visitors and businesses may take their money elsewhere.
Urbanist advocate Erik Lowe disagreed, citing several high-profile property sales over the past few years. He said, “Commercial parking lots extract wealth from Spokane residents with nothing to show in return.”
“Commercial parking lots are a means for out-of-city investors to park their money at little or no risk to them,” Lowe said, “then cash out to the next investor when land prices have sufficiently increased.”
