If Concord increases the hourly rate for parking to $1.25 on side streets and $1.75 on Main Street as proposed, the capital city would be tied with Portsmouth for the highest fees in New Hampshire.
But not everyone would need to pay.
Legislators at the New Hampshire State House park downtown for free during the session, and more than 40 claim on-street spots at no cost. While those spots are supposed to be used for people who have walking disabilities, many are assigned to political leadership like the Senate president.
Neither the state nor the city had calculated the in-kind value of those spaces. The Legislature generally meets three days a week from January to June. While the schedule varies, the spots usually remain reserved until at least 3 p.m. If the 44 spots are blocked off for elected officials for seven hours per day on average, and the rate is currently 75 cents per hour, the cost would be $16,632. At $1.25 an hour on the side streets, that figure would increase to $27,720.
The rate hike is part of a host of proposals to salvage the dwindling parking fund, which could be $130,000 in debt by the end of fiscal year 2017. But not included in the sweeping changes recommended by Concord officials is a plan to charge lawmakers or the state for their parking.
“I understand there’s been a long-term agreement between the state and the city, and an informal one,” at-large Councilor Amanda Grady Sexton said. “But I think that should be revisited, and I think there should be some discussions about the monitoring of that use.”
New Hampshire has 400 state representatives and 24 state senators. Some lawmakers – mostly leadership and those with walking disabilities – park in a garage at the adjacent Legislative Office Building, which has about 120 spots. The state also owns a parking garage on Storrs Street dedicated for lawmakers, but it only has 204 spots. Hence the 44 spots on Park, Capitol and North State streets.
This arrangement has been in place for decades, though no one could pinpoint the year it started. It is also informal, as no contract appears to ever have existed between the two parties. State and city officials said the number of spaces has increased over the years as the Legislature has aged, but neither seemed to track the exact figure over time.
Acting Chief Joe Burke said the State House security team puts yellow bags on top of the meters in the morning on session days, and collects them whenever business is over for the day. They do not issue tickets, but instead issue printed reminders for members of the public who park in legislators’ spaces. For recurring problems, Burke calls city hall.
“The representatives are going to come to town, and they’re going to need a place to park,” Burke said.
The House speaker’s office is in charge of parking assignments every year. Chief of Staff Terry Pfaff said about 65 representatives have handicap hang tags, so they request a closer parking assignment. Of the 44 members who get on-street spaces, Pfaff estimated at least 17 have a walking disability of some kind.
He noted members make just $100 per year. The state does make a payment in lieu of taxes for fire and municipal services from the city of Concord, which this year is $175,000, but that does not include a reimbursement for parking spaces.
“We’re not budgeted for that or anywhere near budgeted for that,” Pfaff said. “We like the agreement we have now, and we bring a lot of business (to Concord). It’s a good tradeoff.”
Grady Sexton works at the State House as a lobbyist for the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. She said she is worried the proposed increases in rates and fines would negatively affect downtown businesses, which are bruised from two summers of construction on the Main Street project. If the city makes changes, she suggested those legislative spaces should be on the table as well.
“I think we need to recognize as a city that those are very valuable parking spaces, and if people are deterred from accessing our businesses, then we need to look at the use,” she said.
Mayor Jim Bouley, however, said he does not plan to ask the state or the lawmakers to pay for those spots. Also a lobbyist, he is a partner at Dennehy & Bouley.
“I think we have a good arrangement,” he said. “I think we can always fine tune that arrangement, but we’re very fortunate to have the state capital in our city, and I think we want to continue to provide an environment in which the people’s house is open to everyone. Parking is part of that scenario.”
House Minority Leader Steve Shurtleff, who is also an at-large member of the Concord City Council, parks in the Legislative Office Building lot.
While Shurtleff said the state’s annual payment to Concord should be higher, he didn’t have a problem with the current parking arrangement. He and other officials noted a capital plan to turn the parking lot at the nearby Department of Justice building into a large garage. If funded, that project is slated for at least 2021.
“I think that’s going to be the long-term solution, and I think for now the Legislature is trying to be very careful about who they allow to park on the street,” Shurtleff said.
Legislators aren’t the only ones with a parking perk, however. When they are downtown for city business, councilors have dashboard placards to exempt them from meter fees.
Matt Walsh, the city’s director of redevelopment, downtown services and special projects, was the primary author of the proposed parking recommendations.
A consultant firm hired by the city recommended a valet system at the State House, he said. Members could drop their cars near the building, and drivers would take them to an off-site lot until that person is ready to leave.
But the cost estimates for that program were $50,000 to $75,000.
“There was a question of, would the state pay for that?” Walsh said. “There was a question of whether the city would pay for that. It’s an intriguing idea that I think should be discussed in the future, but there’s the mechanics of working that out.”
The consultant also found parking usage increases by 30 percent when the Legislature is in session.
“It certainly has an impact on the availability of parking to support all the other interests in downtown,” Walsh said. “It’s one of those conversations that’s going to have to continue.”
The proposed changes are subject to review and comment by the parking committee, and then they will need final approval from the city council. That process will likely take months and will involve public input. For more information about the proposed changes to the parking system, visit concordnh.gov.
(Megan Doyle can be reached at 369-3321, mdoyle@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @megan_e_doyle.)