THE LONG-DELAYED €200 parking levy will finally become operational this summer, almost two years after being announced in the budget of October 2008.
The two Government departments responsible for the levy – Finance and Environment – have confirmed that the final memorandum on the tax is ready for submission to Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan for his approval of the plan.
The Department of Finance has indicated the levy will be introduced in the next month or two, initially on a pilot basis in Dublin city centre.
After that it is expected to be extended to most of the Dublin City Council area and the major urban centres of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. It is expected that it will be at least a year before the levy – designed to combat congestion – becomes fully operational.
For the pilot period, the tax will be confined to those workers who benefit from free parking spaces in Dublin city centre within the North and South Circular Roads. The affected postcode areas will be Dublin 1, 2, 4 and parts of Dublin 7 and 8. There will be exemptions in areas where there are no regular public transport links at present.
While neither department has given an estimate as to how many motorists will be affected, the number is due to run into thousands. It is expected the vast majority will be public servants, working for the city council, Government departments, the Oireachtas or a plethora of State bodies and agencies.
The Department of Finance does not expect the levy to raise a significant sum for the exchequer, even when fully operational. When the budget was introduced in the autumn of 2008, it was estimated that the nationwide implementation of the levy would raise €10 million in a full year.
Because it is now being introduced on a pilot basis, the tax take in the first year is not expected to be above €5 million.
The levy, announced in the emergency budget of October 2009, envisaged a flat-rate levy of €200 per annum on employees whose employer provided them with car parking facilities. It was subsequently delayed because of difficulties in defining “urban centres”, opposition from unions and business interests, and resistance from sections of the public service.
If more than one employee shares a parking space, it is envisaged that each worker sharing the space will pay a reduced fee of €100. The provisions will also impose fines of up to €3,000 on employers who do not impose the levy on their workers through payroll reductions.
The geographical limit of the levy in urban areas has been agreed between the local authorities and the relevant Government departments. Because it is being introduced as a means of reducing congestion, it will apply to city centre and business districts, where there are good public transport alternatives.