Yellowknife plans first downtown meter increase since 2010

The cost of using most downtown parking meters in Yellowknife will increase if proposals being considered next week are approved.

City of Yellowknife staff recommend changing the cost of parking at one-hour and two-hour meters, amid a broader annual review of fees and charges.

The charge for one hour’s parking would increase from $1.25 to $2.00 in the first change to the cost of those meters since 2010, the City said in a briefing note.

An increase in Yellowknife taxi fares is also recommended.

Councillors will consider the full package of proposed new fees and charges on Monday. Approved changes would take effect on July 1.

“It is recommended that parking rates at one and two-hour meters be increased,” reads the briefing note.

“This is the first time rates for these meters have increased since 2010. No changes are recommended for nine-hour meter rates,” the City document added.

The recommended cost of parking passes and parking certificates is unchanged.

Five cents, which currently buys two minutes at a downtown meter, would get you one minute if the changes are passed. A quarter would buy eight minutes instead of 12, and you’d need $4 for a full two hours at a meter. (It would take a total of $32 to plug a two-hour meter for the full working day, which of course you are not allowed, or supposed, to do…)

The starting taxi fare of $4.50 increases to $4.70 under the recommendations, with the subsequent per-100m fare moving up from 20 cents to 24 cents.

The additional charge you pay for a cab left waiting, per minute after an initial three-minute period, would increase from 50 cents to 95 cents – percentage-wise, one of the sharpest increases among the proposals (the lesson: do not keep Yellowknife cabs waiting).

As a comparison, Whitehorse currently sets a starting fare of $4.50 and a 25-cent charge for every 111 metres (sure, why not) or 12 seconds.

In full: Proposed changes to fees and charges (from p11)

Elsewhere, the City’s standard practice in recent years of increasing facility fees by three percent across the board appears set to continue. A three-percent increase is also recommended for cemetery fees.

After the operators of a recent Chase the Ace in Yellowknife complained at having to surrender significant sums of cash to the City, staff say they are reviewing the City’s Lottery Licence bylaw and will report back with recommended changes later this year.

In March, Gail Leonardis of the Beats Dance Society told the City its Chase the Ace had raised $39,422.74 after all expenses, but had to pay $17,250 in licensing fees to run the contest – 44 percent of the net earnings.

“Unfortunately, any amendments to the Lottery Licence bylaw will not benefit us for this fundraiser,” wrote Leonardis. “We hope that council will not let this matter rest but push for amendments to make the system more equitable.”

Councillors received a briefing on the inner workings of the City’s fees and charges last Monday, ahead of this coming Monday’s discussion.

City staff say fees and charges are expected to make up a full third of the City’s overall revenues in this financial year.