Jim Thorpe Borough officials deliberated Thursday night on the introduction of a parking lot tax ordinance aimed at commercial lots within the municipality.

The proposal, council members said, seeks to generate additional revenue and ensure compliance among lot owners.

“Unfortunately, the borough does not have this fictitious printing press or money tree,” Council President Greg Strubinger said. “Berkheimer does collect this in much the same fashion that they collect the amusement tax. We wouldn’t be reinventing the wheel with this proposal.”

Thursday night’s discussion culminated with council agreeing to compile a list of known commercial lots. No specific tax rate was proposed.

Other examples

Several municipalities in Pennsylvania have already implemented parking taxes, serving as potential models for the proposed ordinance.

Philadelphia imposes a parking tax on the gross receipts from all financial transactions involving the parking or storing of motor vehicles in both outdoor and indoor facilities. As of July 1, 2021, the tax rate is 22.5% of gross receipts.

Norristown levies a 13% tax on the gross receipts of all parking lots and garages within its jurisdiction.

Harrisburg enforces a 20% tax on each parking transaction at nonresidential parking places. Operators are mandated to obtain an annual license for each lot they manage and maintain accurate records of all transactions.

Johnstown implements a 10% tax on the gross receipts of parking revenues.

What lots would be included?

The biggest parking lot in Jim Thorpe, run by Carbon County and located near the train station, would be taxable, Strubinger said.

“We met with Commissioner (Mike) Sofranko and he indicated that if this is something the borough can legally do, there would be some cooperation there,” he added. “We believe even though they are a government entity, they would be subject to the parking lot tax.”

Sofranko said Friday morning that he and County Administrator Eloise Ahner did hear the borough’s proposal.

“There was a discussion, but until something is formally presented to us, I don’t think we can comment on it as a board of commissioners,” he said.

Sofranko added that while the county raised parking rates on holidays and weekends, it did not do so during the week when county residents would be coming to do business.

“A concern of ours would be that while yes, the parking lot tax would be a pass through tax, it would impact our own residents who are coming here to do business,” Sofranko said.

Council members discussed the inclusion of businesses that temporarily rent out parking spaces during events such as the Fall Foliage Festival.

“Most likely, we need to do something with our zoning ordinance in order to allow those people to do that use,” Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said.

Concerns were raised about enforcement if all parking lots did not fall under the same taxing guidelines from the start.

“You might be asking for more problems if you don’t get all the lots equally in the first place,” Councilman Mike Yeastedt said.

Council agreed to consult its solicitor as any parking lot tax proposal moves forward.

“The sample ordinance we have is pretty broad so we have to decide where exactly we want to go with this,” Strubinger said.