On Tuesday, Jan. 9, the Town of North Hempstead hosted its first town board meeting of the new year. Due to the rain and wind storm on Jan. 9, all public hearings and community comments scheduled for the evening were canceled and postponed as many residents wouldn’t be able to make the trip to the town board meeting.
At the January meeting, resolution 36 was called to amend resolution 600-2020, adopted on Dec. 17, 2020, to amend the fee schedule for parking permits in the Port Washington Public Parking District.
According to Councilmember Mariann Dalimonte’s newsletter, she proposed this resolution to amend the fee schedule for an Annual Parking Pass in the Port Washington Public Parking District. Each year, the Annual Parking Pass is increased by $75.00. Councilmember Dalimonte “asked the Town Board to suspend the increases for 2024 ( to $625) and for 2025 (to $700).”
During the meeting, Councilmember Dalimonte explained that during the COVID-19 pandemic, “at the Dec. 17, 2020 meeting, we had a fee schedule to increase the yearly parking fees. And we said at that meeting if we get to a place where we have that revenue, we will stop waiving those fees, so for 2024 and 2025, we had a $75 increase each. And we’ve actually seen our numbers going down because it got very expensive. So we’re hoping that if we keep it at the 2023 number of $550 for a yearly pass, we will have more people than 513 residents get the pass. So that is the reason for this. It’s to help the residents in the Port Washington Parking District that get taxed for this as well.”
To Councilmember Dalimonte’s surprise, Councilman Edward Scott, who is new to the board, asked for the item to be tabled.
The Port Washington Parking District only affects the residents of Port Washington, as the Port Washington Parking District isn’t part of the town’s general fund. During the meeting, Councilmember Dalimonte explained that the Port Washington Parking District is a special district and everyone in Port pays into it.
“Everyone pays taxes into that parking district. All that money has to sustain itself from the meters, permits, and monthlies. We are not in the general fund,” said Councilmember Dalimonte.
With Councilmember Scott being new to the board, he asked about the other parking districts in the town and was told that the other parking districts don’t follow the same procedures as Port’s. For example, Roslyn’s parking district is part of the town and is included in the general fund.
Councilmember Scott requested to table the item with the idea that the town can look into Port Washington’s Parking District to see if it can be standardized. While Councilmember Dalimonte shared that the district cannot be standardized because it is a special district, Councilmember Scott insisted he’d like to look into the situation to see how this affects the constituents in his district, district two.
Councilman Robert Troiano said, “I understand that we all want to make sure that the residents that elect us are treated like every other resident in the town, and I appreciate that. But I’d like to make a point that the Port Washington Parking District is the only parking district in the town. So your residents cannot be hurt by this.”
The motion to table was voted on, and Councilman Scott, Councilman Dennis Walsh, Councilman David Adhami, and Supervisor Jennifer DeSena voted to table the item and not vote that evening.
In Councilmember Dalimonte’s newsletter, she said, “I am asking every resident in Port Washington who purchases an annual parking pass with the Port Washington Parking District to please come to the Board Meeting on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, 7 p.m., 220 Plandome Rd., Manhasset, to voice your support to the TONH Board to stop the increases for the Annual Parking Pass in Port Washington. “
