Nelson City Council voted at its Jan. 7 meeting to increase the annual cost of its seniors parking pass from $90 to $144.
The permit allows the holder to park downtown (except on Baker Street) for up to the maximum time posted on the meter. Seniors parking permits are valid March 1 to February 28 of the following year. There are currently 250 pass holders.
In early 2024, the city's regular parking meter fees were increased by 60 per cent from $1.25 to $2.00 per hour. The seniors pass was not increased at the time because some had already been purchased at the old rate for the coming year. But now the cost of the pass will increase to match last year's regular parking increase.
The parking pass will pay for itself if a senior spends an average of 1.5 hours per week or 15 minutes per day in the downtown core. Beyond that duration, the pass becomes a subsidy for seniors.
Mayor Janice Morrison said most municipalities do not have a seniors parking discount.
The proposed increase prompted a discussion of seniors' incomes, indexed pensions, the inflated cost of living, and the cost of maintaining downtown infrastructure.
Councillor Kate Tait said age is not an indicator of need, but she supported continuing the parking pass as a gesture, stating that the pass is an offering of savings and a symbol of valuing seniors. Councillor Jesse Woodward agreed.
Councillor Rik Logtenberg voted in favour of the increase, while stating that young people need more help than many seniors because the increased costs of education and housing mean that younger people "increasingly carry the burden of supporting society."
Councillor Jesse Pineiro, opposing the increase, said with the cost of everything increasing dramatically, especially for people on fixed incomes, he would like to continue to offer the pass at the old rate.
"This would give people an opportunity to have just one cost that does not go up," he said, "out of the many other things that will have no choice but to go up."
Pineiro and Councillor Leslie Payne voted against the increase. Councillor Keith Page was not at the meeting.
