Levy drives parking spot costs higher Author: Mathew Dunckley Date: 09/03/2006 Publication: The Financial Review
City residents in Melbourne looking to make easy money out of leasing their spare car parks to commuters will now need to cough up for the Victorian Government's parking levy.
The $400 per space levy, which rises to $800 next year, came into force on January 1 but exempted residential car parks.
Residents offering spots to CBD workers for well below commercial rates, from as little as $170 a month, are easily found on the internet.
The Australian Financial Review rang one to inquire about a parking space and was told not to worry about the levy.
An office worker who rents a prime spot from a resident in the city, for a very cheap $300 a month, doubted whether the government could ever track down the largely cash arrangements put in place.
But Sally Finlay, a spokeswoman for Treasurer John Brumby, said such behaviour was against the law.
"If a resident has a parking space and leases it to a commuter then the resident would be expected to pay the levy as the space is used by someone who is contributing to congestion," she said.
"As with all other government taxes and charges, penalties for default in payment are provided for."
The penalty rate for defaults was up to 25 per cent of the levy not paid, she said.
At the levy's present rate that would amount to a maximum fine of $500, rising to $1000 .
"The actual penalty applied in any case is, however, determined by the circumstances of the individual case and can range from 0 per cent to 25 per cent," she said.
"Of course anyone can discuss and are encouraged to discuss their individual bills with the State Revenue Office."
Wilson Parking general manager Craig Smith said in the interests of fairness the government should be compelling residents to pay up.
While he conceded residents were not a commercial threat to Wilson Parking's 44,000-parking space operation in Melbourne it was a matter of principle that they should be made to pay, he said.
"In our view it is quite unfair that we as a public operator have to compete with private operators who don't have the same costs," Mr Smith said.
"I would have thought that the government and, in particular, the State Revenue Office, would look at that from an equity viewpoint and from a cost base point of view in terms of their congestion levy."
Although he did not know the exact figure, Mr Smith estimated there would be thousands of resident parking spots occupied by city commuters on any given day.
GST was also charged on car spaces and Mr Smith doubted residents would be putting up their hands to pay that charge either.
KEY POINTS
* The state introduced an annual $400 levy per park on January 1.
* Owners of the spaces can be penalised for failing to pay.
* The levy is not expected to lessen demand for CBD spots.An article on page 58 yesterday, "Levy drives parking spot costs higher", included incorrect figures for Wilson Parking. The company manages 44,000 parking spaces throughout Victoria, 22,000 of which are in the Melbourne CBD and attract the state's parking levy.