Township, commuters grapple with new tax
7% state sales tax amounts to 28¢ a day for some commuters
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK -- Commuters already worried about the prospect of the township increasing municipal parking rates are now facing a hike courtesy of the state.

The state Legislature has imposed a 7-percent sales tax on municipal fees such as those charged for parking. This affects East Brunswick's two park-and-ride facilities, which together offer about 2,500 daily and monthly parking spaces.

Residents of East Brunswick currently pay $20 for a monthly parking permit or $3 daily at the Transportation and Commerce Center, Route 18 and Tices Lane. At the Neilson Plaza, Route 18 and the N.J. Turnpike exit 9, residents pay $25 monthly or $4 daily.

The sales tax, in addition to raising the cost to park, means commuters may have to pay an uneven amount. For example, with the tax added to the daily parking fee at the Neilson deck, the cost would be $4.28.

Township officials are looking at a variety of options to deal with the issue, though no immediate decision has been made. Councilman David Stahl said one idea has already been dismissed however - the idea of raising the daily parking rate to $5 so that users won't have to deal with the issuance of change.

Stahl said the township is not looking to increase costs to users, except to pay the sales tax. So the township will have to be "creative" in order to keep the payment process simple.

"You don't want to slow them down or charge them more than the sales tax," he said.

Stahl said there's been discussion about raising both daily parking and monthly rates in order to preserve an even dollar amount. However, he said neither idea will fly, nor will the idea of lowering rates by 28 cents per day in order to offset the tax. Such a move would result in the utility collecting less than its needed revenues.

It is not necessary to avoid an uneven amount for monthly permits, he said, because most people who buy monthly passes pay by check and can write it out with dollars and cents.

It is the cash payment issue that needs to be resolved.

One idea being considered is to sell what he called "script tickets," meaning someone would buy a collection of daily passes so they only have to make change occasionally rather than every day. Stahl compared the idea to the E-ZPass system on New Jersey highways.

Regardless, the Township Council last week passed a resolution calling on the state to exempt municipal parking facilities from collecting the sales tax.

Some consider the tax senseless in a state that is trying to encourage mass transportation rather than individual vehicles, Stahl noted.

The state sales tax on municipal parking lot users began Oct. 1, but the township's utility is currently paying for the tax from budget reserves.

Commuter Howard Neuman, who sits on the township's Commuter Parking Advisory Board, said the issue was discussed at the group's last meeting but there was no consensus on a solution.

He agreed with Stahl that monthly passes aren't a problem since most users pay by check. He did note however that some people who pay by the month remain unaware of the new tax, and will be surprised when they have to pay it.

The daily rates are the real problem, as East Brunswick uses either an individual to collect the money or asks users to slide the money into a box. Having to pay an uneven amount would slow down the process, a real problem for commuters hurrying to catch a bus, he said.

One alternative, Neuman said, is to raise the fares by a quarter and just have the township pay the remaining three cents.

Another is to have users pay for parking on the way out, when they aren't in such a rush.

The best-case scenario, Neuman said, would be if the state repeals the tax.