Rethink urged on parking levy Author: Mark Phillips Date: 09/01/2007 Publication: The Financial Review
A review of the administration of the contentious Melbourne CBD congestion levy does not go far enough, according to the Property Council of Australia.
The council's Victorian division said the review should also examine the effectiveness of the levy, which doubled on January 1 to an annual cost of $800 for each long-term parking space in the city centre.
The State Revenue Office and Department of Treasury and Finance have begun a review of the levy, which was introduced last year in a bid to curb traffic congestion in the CBD, estimated by one report to cost $4 billion a year.
The review will not only look at administration of the levy, but also at whether it has been used to disguise increases in parking charges.
The PCA's Victorian executive director, Jennifer Cunich, said issues with the levy went beyond the compliance burden.
Before the new year increase, the PCA had urged the Bracks government to wait until it had released the findings of the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission report on congestion in Melbourne and come up with a long-term strategy to solve the congestion problem across the city.
"The government should also be examining the effectiveness of this tax, because it clearly hasn't achieved its intended objectives," Ms Cunich said. "It hasn't led to a reduction of traffic congestion, pollution or greenhouse gas emissions in the CBD."
The Bracks government has repeatedly said it will not review the tax itself.