Spokane council adopts commercial parking tax public rule after extensive public comment

The Spokane City Council adopted a public rule governing the city’s commercial parking tax after hours of public testimony and a contentious council debate.

The rule — described at the hearing as a 12 percent tax on surface-lot parking and a 6 percent tax on garages — won council approval by a 6–1 vote. Council Member Kletzky announced he would vote no, saying the exemptions and implementation details presented to the public were insufficiently clear: “I’m going to vote no on this public rule because I don’t believe we are actually addressing what at least was intimated to the public,” he said.

Downtown small-business owners and employees told the council the added cost could force workers and clients away from downtown employment and commerce. Tara Colter, a downtown salon owner, said the increase will hit employees and small-business operators who lack alternatives for parking: “I urge you to reconsider the parking tax and its impact to the employees and small businesses who are trying to make downtown work,” she said, describing higher monthly parking rates and staffing losses.

Another frequent commenter, Justin Heller, said rising parking costs make working downtown unaffordable for some and criticized the city’s broader spending choices, calling the tax “one more slap in the face to the taxpayers” during public comment.

Council members pressed administration staff for more detail on who would be exempted and how enforcement would work. Transportation Director John Snyder (as referenced in the hearing) and council members explained that the proposed exemptions include certain state exemptions plus locally proposed exemptions for residential, student and employee parking and that reserved stalls with exclusively designated monthly pass holders would qualify as exempt when properly designated. Council Member Gilling said the tax is a modest revenue measure intended to fund infrastructure and public-safety projects and that the council would “watch very closely” how revenues are allocated.

Despite the debate over exemptions and distribution of funds, the council adopted the public rule. The record shows the rule was advanced by a majority vote; the hearing transcript recorded the final tally as 6 in favor, 1 opposed.

Next steps indicated by council members include monitoring implementation, clarifying exemption rules in the final paperwork and reviewing allocation priorities for the revenue stream.