Get Ready to Pay for more parking in Vancouver
 

http://www.news1130.com/news/local/m...20_095138_9108

Vancouver = Way too expensive to live in LOL

its so weird wen i go to Van and have to pay for parking wherever i go..... hotels, clubs, hockey game, hospital and restaurants......... i guess im just not used to this big city lifestyle.

Surprise surprise..

As long as those big Shopping malls [ i.e. Oakridge ] do not require any pay parking, I am alright with that.

Can the Vancouver police fine more left-lane jammers on the highway instead. They're so annoying. A woman was doing 60kph on the left lane in a 80kph zone yesterday in her lexus:(

Horn her

Give her a break she wasn't on the cell and doing her make up at the same time with a starbucks

Why can't the governemtn ever balance their budget? are they really that impotent?

good thing I barely go downtown or any place that requires pay parking :)

Parking fees are supposed to be in place to control traffic, not for revenue collection. I'd be interested to know what the Vancouver bylaws are... Ottawa has a bylaw stating parking fees/fines cannot be raised for revenue.

rofl... good thing i have a special place in kerrisadale to park, downtown... not so much -_-

Well, the truth is, everything is about revenue these days. They just sugarcoat it with "in public's interest"

The Vancouver Sun collected reports of approved or projected budgets for 13 other Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley municipalities.

Although most regions have not yet approved their property tax increases, projected hikes range from 2.95 per cent in West Vancouver to 7.4 per cent in Port Coquitlam, if that municipality opts for three new RCMP officers.

Langley city recently approved a 9.31-per-cent tax hike for business owners.
Those planning Vancouver's budget were up against a few hurdles.

According to the report, the city can expect $12 million less in revenue from development fees in 2009, and, since there wasn't a strike last summer, it won't have the related cost savings that were in last year's budget.

Staff are recommending the city make more money next year by raising parking-meter rates, installing new meters and increasing parking violation fines by $10.

Staff figure they can rake in $1.7 million in 2009 by increasing meter fees -- including doubling rates on Commercial Drive and parts of Kitsilano and Kerrisdale -- and by installing new meters in such places as West 10th Avenue between Blanca and Discovery streets.

"It's a relatively benign way to raise revenue to the city and if you don't want to pay the fees you don't have to," Louie said.

He said that bicycling is another option.

The city has also saved $6.7 million with a recent hiring freeze, the report says.

However, Louie said the city needs more permanent cost-saving measures, which is why he'll put forward a motion next week to hire an external auditor to look for savings.

That service would cost about $300,000, he said.

For the complete budget report, including details of parking-meter changes, go to vancouversun.com

Vancouver city staff are recommending a 5.83% property tax increase in 2009,

which breaks down to a 7.83% average hike for homeowners

and 3.83% more for business owners.

Here's how Vancouver's numbers compare to other Metro municipalities.

Vancouver: 7.83 % homeowners, 3.83 % business owners (projected).

Richmond: 2.97 % (projected).

Delta: 3.98 % (projected).

North Vancouver City: 4.39 % (projected).

North Vancouver District: 4.25 % (projected).

Langley City: 4.47 % for homeowners, 3.56 % for strata owners, 9.31 % for business owners (approved).

Surrey: 3.9 % (approved).

Burnaby: 5.23 % (projected).

Coquitlam: 7.1 % (approved).

Port Coquitlam: 7.4 % (projected).

New Westminster: 5.2 % (projected).

Abbotsford: 5.5 % (approved).

Chilliwack: 3.95 % (projected).

West Vancouver: 2.95 % (projected)

Chad Skelton and Lori Culbert, Vancouver Sun

its time to use public transit i guess

I say in 10 yrs, you'll need a roll of loonies in the car just to park anywhere in Vancouver.

hopefully by then... we'll have stuff similar to HK octocards ...

^^ machines in 10 years will ONLY accept bills LOL

vancouver.. is starting to disappoint me...

Next thing you know it's going to be 24 hour parking meters.

lol so glad i dont work in Van. anymore. Finding free parking was slim pickins. Could be good with less ppl driving because for the most part, the quality of parking was also pretty horrid. Cracked front bumper and about 10 lil dents in the rear bumper .. not one left a note on my car.. f*ckin stupid!

they should have skytrain running till 4 am or sth, then i would never have to drive to downtown

24/7 pls.

if the buses here were cleaner and not stinky ... i actually wouldn't mind busing

true dat!

do they ever clean the buses/skytrain?

I always find cum stains the the seats

thats actually an awesome idea. We'd raise a million dollars easily with the way people drive here.

you know the dumb thing about that???

When you flash them continuously, honk them, then cut in front of them... they don't even REALIZE IT!!! Fuck so annoying....

I got this dumbass motherfucking C-LAI with her Ninja Visor around her zombie skinned face who just wont' GTFO!!!! all the cars behind me were honking her. After I managed to cut in front of her, she was still driving her Corolla S ass at 30km/h! FUCK!